


I Am You and You Are Me

by coloredmoon



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Body Swap, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 60,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23051677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coloredmoon/pseuds/coloredmoon
Summary: Confusion hits both Karma and Nagisa as they wake up one morning in each other's bodies. They panic and try to rationalise what's going on but the siuation is just too unreal. As they live each other's life for bit they notice their body swap isn't as simple as they thought it was. Why do they swap and how do they end it?
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Shiota Nagisa, Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 104
Kudos: 489





	1. Waking up time

When Karma woke up that morning, he immediately felt odd. Firstly, he woke up with his feet actually covered by his blanket for once, which was a happy surprise. His body, however, felt as if it wasn't entirely right on him. It felt like it didn’t fit. His movements felt different and when he went to touch his face it seemed to be different from other times he had made the same movement.

The moment he sat up and opened his eyes, he realised how off things really were. What he saw wasn't his own room. The emptiness of white walls and a nearly empty, organised desk didn't fit his usual aesthetic of putting trinkets and memorabilia on display over his room.

It was only then that he noticed the wardrobe. It had a mirror on its door but that took a few moments for Karma to realise- seeing as he didn't see his usual self in said mirror. The person he saw mimicking his every move was his friend Nagisa Shiota.

"What the fu-" He started, but he put his hand to his throat in surprise of his voice. _he didn't sound like that_.

He got up and moved a little in front of the mirror, trying to see if his friend’s physique was really him. With one look at his hand he realised they were indeed smaller than before.

And his hair. It was long. He felt the blue locks and the first thing his mind went to was _'it's definitely nagisa's_ ’. He had no idea why he remembered so well what Nagisa's hair felt like. Perhaps it was sort of creepy that he did.

He heard a voice call his, or, well, Nagisa's name.

"Nagisa, are you going to come for breakfast." His mother, probably.

Karma wasn't used to someone being there when he woke up, but then, he probably hadn't. He must still be dreaming. He was unsure why he'd dream of being in his friend's body but it still must be just that.

The woman called his friend's name again and Karma decided to go along with the dream. _'i'll wake up eventually'_.

When Karma sat down to have a dream breakfast with Nagisa's mother he couldn't help but feel very weird about all of it. Not only was it a mystery to him why he’d ever dream of having breakfast with his friend’s mother, She also had a very odd vibe. He'd seen her once before and kind of knew she was off but Karma noticed the passive aggressive smile on her face now.

"I do hope you do better on that math test you have today" She put her cup down. "We wouldn't want your grades to go down even further."

Karma definitely didn't like her tone of voice with threats woven through. This was all just a dream to him. Considering his actions wouldn’t have actual consequences, he reacted with his usual smug attitude.

"I think Nagisa'll do the same as he usually does." He leaned back in his chair.

Her expression changed. Karma wasn't sure what happened but within seconds she had gotten up and grabbed his hair. She was much louder than she was before as she basically attacked Karma, who looked just like her son at that moment.

"Don't act that way to your mother" She nearly hissed. "Why can’t you just be a normal and good child, instead of talking so weird to your mother!"

Suppressing another comment he leaned along with the pulling of his hair. She had no issue holding onto it when it wasn't tied up as it was other mornings when her son sat down for breakfast with her.

After a bit of silence, she let go and left the room saying she expected a better attitude after school. Karma rubbed his head while dealing with the dull feeling on his scalp. He had been in pain, so why didn't he wake up?

He went back to Nagisa's room feeling different. _'maybe it wasn't a dream'_ he thought to himself.

_'that's ridiculous'_ he retorted. _'people don't just...switch bodies.’_

Everything started to feel a little more real to him. The room around him was so real. There were so many details, things to look at. Why would his brain so vividly have a representation of what Nagisa’s room looked like? Had he even been there since their shared first year?

_‘people don’t just…’_ he wanted to recall the facts again. He wasn’t sure what the facts were anymore. He couldn’t wake up, this was real.

Before he could have any more internal discussions he got interrupted by a tune playing through the room. _'Nagisa's ringtone’_ he thought as he located the phone on his nightstand and read the caller ID. _'Karma'_ it read. With mixed feelings, and a slight hint of panic left, he decided to pick up.

"H-hello?" He heard a male voice through the phone. He recognised it as his own voice somehow. _'god i hate hearing my own voice on recording stuff'_ he thought, but this wasn't recorded and he knew that much.

"Who is this?" He asked, unsure what answer he was expecting to get.

"Uh..." The recipient seemed nervous, as if they didn’t have an actual answer to that question.

Karma noted he had to stop giving any fucks. Maybe he sounded stupid but he just needed the truth right now, even if that truth was that he was in a most unreal situation.

“Nagisa?” He asked, still somewhat hesitant. It had to be if he was Nagisa, somehow. Someone had to be him. His friend was just the most logical option for the situation. he definitely didn’t feel like he was dreaming anymore and if it wasn’t a dream he needed to know what he was dealing with to solve it.

The recipient let out a small gasp. It was odd and kind of uncharacteristic for Karma’s voice. His voice spoke slowly. “Yes?” It answered, followed by an awkward silence.

“Great.” Karma, as Nagisa, managed to let out through his clenched teeth. “Well this is Karma and I’d like to know what the actual _fuck_ is going on”

\---

The two agreed to meet at the bottom of the mountain instead of at their school building. Nagisa noted they needed to talk, figure things out, or, at the very least, make sure this was actually happening. Until then both of them would try to act normal- normal to the other’s standards.

And so Karma was in Nagisa’s bathroom, awkwardly staring at the pajama bottoms he really had to change out of. He looked at a certain region on his current body. Immediately his gaze went back up to look at his face in the mirror. _‘don’t make this weird’_ he told himself.

Without looking down or in the direction of the mirror too much he changed his clothes. He was more than a little uncomfortable wearing jeans that were so clearly too big on his body. Did Nagisa actually think he’d grow into this?

Without a belt the pants actually hung low a little too easily. Karma grabbed the belt Nagisa always wore and noted the extra holes poked into it meaning it needed to go even tighter than was ever originally meant for this product. Karma wished he would just buy smaller clothes already.

Then came the time for him to do his hair. Or, Nagisa’s hair? The point is he didn’t know how to. He looked through some drawers and cabinets and found elastic bands but he still had no clue where to begin.

What caught the boy off guard was the fact that there were several brushes. He didn’t know which one was Nagisa’s. He didn’t even know if that was something that mattered. One brush was bigger, one had more pins, and one… looked normal-ish?

Karma figured normal-ish was fine.

_‘brush it first?’_ he wasn’t sure. _‘collect the hair and then just...around it?’_ it ended up looking like an absolute mess. Karma was lost on how to do this properly. Anytime he came close to having it, it was lopsided or asymmetrical.

Frustration took over his being and he slammed his fist into the counter. Surely he was capable of making a pair of pigtails? His frustrated state didn’t lessen even a bit and with his next try he broke one of the elastic bands he’s been holding. He gave up. Hair down it was.

“Does Nagisa do more in the morning?” He wondered out loud. He _looked_ fine.

He gave up and returned to Nagisa’s room. Lucky for him, his friend was organised. His school bag was packed and ready left on his desk chair. Karma didn’t think he could manage finding Nagisa’s things in his room. It may not have looked it at first, but Nagisa had more stuff than the eye met. Drawers could hide many things.

He felt bad for Nagisa. Karma, being his usual self, had not done anything to prepare for the school day they had ahead of them. Every morning he put his stuff into his bag on the spot and decided then and there if he’d even go to first period. And homework? He didn’t need to do that. Karma effortlessly avoided the consequences, Nagisa wasn’t like that.

Karma eventually figured it was time to leave. The earlier he was the more he and Nagisa could talk. Not that he minded skipping school, surely Nagisa would agree to doing so with what was going on. There was no way the two could pretend to be each other, nor could they tell their teachers or friends about the situation, whatever that was.

As he left the apartment he discovered the last problem in his plan: He had no idea how to get to school from Nagisa’s place.

And so he arrived at the foot of the mountain 15 minutes later than planned. There was no way he was about to own up to getting lost about 6 times on his way. He saw his friend waiting for him. Well, he saw himself. He was really tall, which wasn’t strange to him considering he was used to bumping his head on door posts because of his height. To be fair, Nagisa was very short and it was odd to Karma to have to look up at someone so much.

Karma, actually Nagisa, looked at him with a look of concern. He portrayed way more on his face than Karma would usually let through and it looked odd. He had a more upright posture as well. It kind of bothered Karma to see his body like that. It was so not him.

Nagisa turned to the guy in his body, got to the matter at hand, and asked what they were both wondering.

“What on earth happened?”


	2. Panic time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time Nagisa wakes up, he reacts a little more logical than Karma does tbh.

Nagisa was not the type of person to wake up naturally, he had an alarm clock for a reason. It wasn’t like he was a particularly deep sleeper, he just didn’t have an internal clock that woke him up in time for school. To avoid waking up at random times he always made sure to set his alarm clock the evening before. 

This morning, however, no alarm clock went off. He woke up naturally, and cold. For reasons unknown to him his covers didn’t go past his ankles. He curled up to get his feet tucked under but felt weird doing so. 

More tired than he’d expected, he sat up and went to get his hair out of his face like he was used to doing every morning. Oddly enough, there wasn’t enough here there to even be in the way. A shot of panic ran through him at the thought that his hair might miraculously have been cut short.  _ ‘mom’s going to freak out!’  _

He finally opened his eyes and decided that, you know what,  _ he’ll freak out himself.  _

Somehow he’d gotten himself in a different bed, in a different room, in  _ a different body.  _ The body he woke up in was more muscular than his and definitely taller. Nagisa did wish to be taller quite often, but not by getting an entirely new body. 

He took a hold of his current hair, noticing it had some sort of fringe. Also, it was red. His mind immediately flashed to a certain red head he knew. There was nothing to suggest he was in the body of someone he knew but he noticed the window of the bedroom and figured there was a way to find out. 

Hesitantly, he walked towards the window. A voice in his head told him it was better if he didn’t know. It was already too late however because he was close enough to the window to see a light reflection of him, or, who he was at that moment at least. 

He turned completely white, somehow only now realising just how fucked up the situation was. Then, he yelled, with a voice that caused him to panic even more because it was much lower than it usually was. 

\-------------

A couple of minutes passed and Nagisa stood in the middle of the room, still debating just how impossible the whole ordeal of waking up in his friend’s body was. Yet there he was: tall, slightly muscular, and in possession of short red hair. He knew he was Karma but he didn’t know  _ how  _ or  _ why.  _

He wasn’t dreaming, that much was clear. He’d pinched himself at least 7 times and he hadn't woken up nor did anything change. And worst of all: he  _ really  _ had to pee. 

There was no way he was about to go to the bathroom. He didn’t want to see Karma’s…  _ thing.  _ Just thinking about it made Nagisa go red in the face. What he needed was to find a way to stop this. Also, a distraction from his nearly exploding bladder. 

Still in a panicked state, he speedwalked to the door, thinking leaving the room would get him closer to solving his problems. What he didn’t think about was how Japan-sized Karma’s bedroom door was and just how tall Karma was, especially compared to it. With full speed, Nagisa hit his head on the doorpost. 

“Fuck!” He cringed yet again hearing the voice that didn’t belong to him. It felt unnatural and weird. It reminded him once more how badly he needed to find out what happened. an idea did pop up in his head, which was still very much hurting. He needed to find Karma’s phone. 

One issue in the process of solving things was that Karma’s house was a mess. It wasn’t like things were thrown on the floor but things were so misplaced that Nagisa wondered if stuff even had its own place in this house. 

The worst example was the kitchen. Usually, if Nagisa had to imagine a messy kitchen, he thought of dirty dishes and food stains on the counters. The kitchen he stepped in now however, wasn’t dirty. The problem was that not a single pan had been put back in a cupboard. Instead, they were stacked on the counter in a tower of Pisa manner. All the pans were clean, just not cleaned up. 

And there was so much  _ other  _ stuff. In no house he’d ever been had Nagisa seen a pyramid of toilet paper being left in the kitchen of all places, and on the counter too.  _ ‘Does Karma care that little about this stuff?’  _

He continued to look at all the stuff and noticed a bigger-than-average spice rack. There were so many spices, some of which Nagisa had never even heard. Curious about it he picked up a specifically fancily stored one and looked at it closer. The jar it was in looked fragile but it was definitely made up for with the beautiful decorations etched on the lid. 

He was so entranced by the spice jar that he was extra surprised by the sudden ringing noise that came left from him. In fact, it scared him so badly he accidentally dropped the spice jar. 

It hit the floor and crashed more loudly than Nagisa’s nerves could handle. Nagisa moved away from the glass shards shooting towards his legs. The loud crash and ringing noise that was still continuing stressed him out and for a solid 30 seconds he couldn’t do anything but look around in panic. 

He finally snapped awake from his panicked state and looked for the source of the noise. It was then that he saw a light coming from behind the tower of pisa pans.  _ Karma’s phone.  _

Of course his friend had set his alarm as late as possible before he had to leave for school. Nagisa turned the alarm off and realised how stuck he was. He didn’t know Karma’s phone password. 

So there he stood, locked phone in hand and glass and some kind of spice all over the kitchen floor. This really wasn’t his morning. 

\--------

He’d gone back to Karma’s bedroom and tried  _ every  _ phone password he could think of. He frantically typed away but it was constantly wrong or annoyed at how he mistyped the code because he wasn’t used to using Karma’s hands. He never imagined  _ that  _ of all things would be a body swap issue. Surely guessing four digits his friend would use couldn’t be that hard? 

_ ‘his birthday?’  _ No.  _ ‘birthyear?’  _ Also no.  _ ‘sonic ninja release year or date?’  _ Farfetched and still no.  _ ‘1234?’  _ Did he really think that low of Karma? 

He was about to give up when he heard a little voice in his head.  _ ‘try your own birthday.’  _

Nagisa immediately wanted to refute that one. Sure they were friends but to him it seemed weird for his friend to use  _ his _ birthday of all birthdays. Why would he even try? It’s not like it would work. 

He tried anyways. 

It worked. 

_ ‘I’m going to have to ask him about that…’  _ was all Nagisa thought as he looked at the unlocked phone in confusion. He went to Karma’s contacts and looked for a certain name.  _ ‘Nagisa.’  _ He couldn’t help but consider how weird it was to be calling himself. 

He tapped on the contact and pressed call. after a few rings, someone picked up. 

\--------

Neither Karma nor Nagisa were sure on what to do. The situation wasn’t exactly something either of them had experience with, nor did they know anyone who did. They agreed on one thing, though. 

“We have to keep it a secret.” Nagisa said firmly, somewhat adjusted to using Karma’s voice. He no longer cringed whenever he opened his mouth. Now, he just wondered if he somehow made Karma’s voice sound different because he’s used to talking in a different manner. Karma definitely sounded different when using his voice. 

“Yeah, probably” Karma sighed, slouching more than Nagisa’s body was ever used to. Nagisa wondered if Karma was ruining his posture by just standing like his usual self. “I mean the octopus would want to help but… I don’t know, I don’t trust this I guess.” 

Nagisa nodded in agreement. Korosensei could do many things, but solving a mysterious body swap did not match any theories he had about Korosensei in the slightest. 

They both remained there, awkwardly standing and staring at each other. Nagisa nearly made himself laugh after thinking how this was a ‘literal out of body experience.’ 

“should we… pretend to be each other then?” He suggested. He noticed Karma raised an eyebrow at him and sighed. “I mean they’re going to notice something is wrong if I just act like me but I’m you?” 

Karma let out a snort, something Nagisa wouldn’t do often and he didn’t like how it sounded coming from him.  _ ‘just give Karma his body back, he looks way better when smug than me.’  _ He wasn’t sure why he felt the urge to compliment Karma about something as abstract as that. 

“Oh I gave you that look ‘cuz I thought that was obvious.” Karma blinked, obviously already having figured out what Nagisa had only come to realise a little earlier. 

Embarrassment took over Nagisa’s face, or, well, Karma’s face because of Nagisa. “Right...Right, yeah.” He wanted to tuck back the strand of hair usually by his face but nothing was there. This just made Nagisa feel like he looked like an idiot desperately grabbing at nonexistent hair. 

“Here’s the plan: we get to class. We avoid talking too much and if needed too, pretend to be each other. After school we figure out what on earth is happening because you apparently don’t want me to skip or whatever.” Karma rolled his eyes. “priorities.” 

Feeling like bickering about it was useless, Nagisa agreed. They didn’t have PE today, so as long as Korosensei didn’t ask him any questions in class he figured he should be fine. 

“uh...good luck.” Karma said, eyeing his own body. “don’t like, walk like that… it’s not...man I don’t know.” 

Nagisa looked down at his current body and awkwardly tried to release tension from his shoulders. It probably looked awkward but hopefully a little more like Karma. Being Karma wasn’t going to be easy but he tried to be brave and not swear as he bumped his head on the doorpost again. 

The hit rang through his body and he felt a familiar need from earlier. He turned to Karma in embarrassment and tapped his shoulder awkwardly, noting just how small he was again. 

Karma looked up at him questioningly as Nagisa let out an awkward laugh. 

“I really have to pee.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao I wrote like 3 oneshots and this went really slow I'm sorry. I have no writing schedule so these chapters just come online when I feel like it I guess? thank you for the lovely comments asking for more! chapter 3 already has a start so not to worry I hope to be a bit quicker on that now that I started that and finished the oneshots I wanted to write.


	3. Acting Normal Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things seem to go relatively well as Karma and Nagisa try to survive a day as each other. But how does such a day end?

There he was, in the 3e building's men's restroom, holding open the door to one of the toilet stalls. Deep down he knew he wasn't doing anything too weird. He always went to the boy's bathroom, that wasn't the issue. But being there as Karma felt wrong.

It probably wasn't about the place at all. Actually, he knew it wasn't. The problem was that any time he thought of stepping in and doing his business he wanted to sink into the floor.

He really did not want to see Karma's parts.

Strange as it was, it wasn’t improved by the fact that he was not alone in the boy’s bathroom. He’d noticed Isogai walking in, it was easy to identify his footsteps and general presence. The reason he hadn’t reacted to him was, well, he didn’t think Karma would. Nor should anyone when going to the bathroom. 

Not that he’d gone yet. He was still staring at said toilet. Isogai must have noticed and realised that that wasn’t normal, not even for Karma who he might not have been as familiar with. It was within Isogai’s character to worry about his classmates and want to help. Though, toilet issues weren’t exactly part of the class representative job. 

“Hey Karma, are you okay?” Isogai asked, keeping a polite distance from him. “You’ve been staring into the stall for… I’m guessing longer than I’ve been here.” He laughed a little. Nagisa considered it a calming laugh, as if it was meant to bring him to ease. It usually did just that for Nagisa. 

He wasn’t being Nagisa, however. He had to react like Karma. From experience, he knew Karma respected Isogai to some extent but he definitely wouldn’t discuss his problems with him. Not that he’d discuss his issues with many people. 

He wouldn’t discuss any private issues. To Nagisa, this was a private issue. He needed some smug answer. With everything that came to mind, Nagisa only really remembered Karma’s sarcastic tinted answers that, in some cases, may have seem degrading. He knew he was joking, he hoped everyone did. He hoped Karma was actually joking those times. 

“What? are you curious about what I do in the bathroom” He answered. Smug, meant as a tease, top tier Karma if you’d ask Nagisa. “I wasn’t aware you uh, like that” Okay so that sounded less confident.  _ ‘Careful, your Nagisa is shining through.’  _

Isogai blinked in surprise. He let out an uncomfortable laugh before awkwardly excusing himself and going into the stall next to the one Nagisa was sort-of-but-also-not occupying. 

Nagisa felt sorry for Isogai. Maybe he shouldn’t be  _ that  _ much like teasing Karma if he couldn’t handle the consequences. 

He sighed and resumed his staring competition with the doomed porcelain in front of him. Somehow he’d have to do this, he couldn’t exactly not go and face  _ that  _ disaster. 

After gaining some kind of confidence he took in a deep breath and walked into the stall, closed and locked the door and immediately shut his eyes tightly. Perhaps closing his eyes wasn’t the most dignified road to take, but to Nagisa it was the best. 

Without looking he carefully opened the zipper, as if he was afraid to somehow break something down there if he rushed it. realistically speaking he knew that wouldn’t happen, but then again body swaps also shouldn’t be able to happen and Nagisa was in an unidentifiable panic over the situation. 

He pulled down the pants and then just as carefully his underwear before sitting down. Sitting down was another clear solution to him. Easy way to avoid touching it.  _ ‘you’re making a big deal out of this.’  _

So he had taken off layers, he’d sat down, now came the time to mentally distract himself.  _ ‘think of literally anything else’  _ he thought to himself.  _ ‘just don’t think about his peni- I SAID DON’T’  _ Nagisa couldn’t help but call out his own thoughts for being bothersome. 

He experienced an awkward silence as he sat there on his own. After a while, he finally managed to release it. He’d needed to go for quite some time now and the disappearing of that uncomfortable feeling distracted him enough to have his mind think it was like peeing in his own body, he sighed loudly in relief. 

And then he remembered he never heard Isogai leave the stall next to him, and he’d just loudly sighed in relief. He was mentally slapping himself in the face about how he’d gone about it, somehow still having some hope left that Isogai hadn’t heard him. It was that hope that got him to not sink into the toilet on the spot. 

After finishing he knew he couldn’t just hide in the toilet to avoid confrontation. Sure, Karma would take any opportunity to skip but that wasn’t the way Nagisa liked it. If anything he’d like to keep an eye on Karma. So he had to leave this toilet. 

He opened his eyes and exited the stall. Exactly at that moment, he heard a toilet flush in the next stall over. Nagisa was ready to die. 

Pretending he wasn’t bothered by it, he rushed to the sink to quickly wash his hands. Maybe, if he left the bathroom with enough speed, he wouldn’t have to deal with Isogai’s reaction. He wasn’t so sure he could keep a cool face if he had to face Isogai just then. 

Unfortunately, this was not Nagisa’s lucky day  _ at all _ . As he was in the middle of washing his hands Isogai walked out and waited behind him, of course he needed to also wash his hands. Nagisa continued in silence, trying to completely ignore the pressure of someone waiting behind him and the uncomfortable air he brought about himself. 

Without drying his hands he speedwalked out of the bathroom, wishing he’d never have to do that again. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he couldn’t exactly dehydrate Karma’s body for the rest of the day. 

_ ‘how are you so sure this will only last a day?’  _

\------------------------

Karma leaned against a wall, waiting for Nagisa to be done doing his business. He hated to admit the thought of Nagisa’s embarrassment of going to the bathroom was kind of cute to him. It wasn’t that cute that he was in his body. Honestly, he wished he could see  _ Nagisa  _ blush. Looking at himself doing it wasn’t right. 

It was weird how long Nagisa was taking for it though, he’d gone in about 10 minutes ago and still wasn’t back yet. Not too long ago Isogai had walked by and gone in too. He’d tried to smile as kindly as he could in Isogai’s direction, like Nagisa would do. Would he have to smile at everyone that walked by?

He personally decided to draw the line at Terasaka, Nagisa shouldn’t have to smile at that air for brains. 

It wasn’t Terasaka that ran up to him at that moment, however. Before he could do anything a small, way too excited, green haired girl had appeared in front of him. ‘ _ It’s fine, Kayano is fine, you can deal with her.’  _ He mentally reminded himself. 

As odd as he thought Kayano’s personality was, he had to admit she was relatively nice to hang out with. A bit much at times, but kind somehow also aware of boundaries. Most importantly, she was harmless. The worst she could do was throw pudding or something, nothing Karma couldn’t handle. 

“Oh, did I scare you?” She asked him confused, making Karma curse himself because he had indeed jumped a bit at her appearing so suddenly. People didn’t usually appear in front of him like that. Plus, Nagisa somehow always noticed people approaching him so it was unusual for Kayano to see him jump like that. 

He nodded slightly, replacing whatever he was portraying on his face before with what he thought to be Nagisa’s friendly smile-ish. “Just a bit distracted today,” he said, before realising what he should add to make it sound more like Nagisa. “Sorry.” 

Lucky for him, Kayano seemed to accept that as Nagisa-ish. She happily continued to talk to him. Karma wasn’t too interested but figured listening and engaging in conversation with her was the correct thing to do, even if that meant he had to have some stupid conversation about the special homework Kayano had gotten from Korosensei. 

“I think it’s unfair, I mean your homework had four questions and I got  _ seven _ ?!” She complained, and Karma nodded to validate her complaint. “And mine are harder too? It’s not like I  _ want  _ to spend the entire evening on math…” 

She fell silent. Karma didn’t say anything.  _ ‘wait, she’s expecting me to react, fuck.’  _ He didn’t have a reaction ready at all. It was just complaining, could he get away with a simple ‘yeah, sucks’? Somehow Karma figured that that wasn’t enough for friendship. It’s not like he had any advice ready for this situation, however. He also kind of still didn’t care. 

He was saved by a yellow flash followed by the appearance of their octopus-like teacher and culprit of the crime Kayano was complaining about, Korosensei. Karma had never been so happy to see his teacher appear next to him. 

“All homework assignments were specialised for each one of my students to aid them at whatever level they were. I’m sure it took you the same amount of time to finish your math assignment as Nagisa took for his.” Their teacher said, portraying the same creepy smile as ever. Did he realise he was kind of calling Nagisa less smart as Kayano for needing more time with four simple exercises? “Also, Good morning!” 

The both of them mumbled back a ‘good morning’ to their teacher before Kayano went back to complaining to him. “But, if I do  _ more, _ what do we actually have to know for the tests? Nagisa’s level or mine?” Karma felt bad for the lack of realisation these two had that they were being rude about the boy standing next to them. Then again, Karma also thought it was kind of funny. 

As the two were discussing the fairness of their previous math homework Nagisa finally left the bathroom, walking oddly fast, except to Korosensei and Kayano it was as if Karma had walked out. 

“Good morning Karma! Nice of you to not skip today’s first period.” Korosensei greeted the other boy, who looked slightly startled and unsure of how to act. “I’m sure it’s because you want to gloat about how easy you thought your homework exercises were.” 

The boy, who everyone thought to be Karma, looked around himself a bit awkwardly. His gaze lowered quite a bit and by the time he spoke he was just looking at the floor with slight panic. “Homework exercises?!” 

Karma kind of wanted to punch him. Of course he forgot to bring the homework. Sure, it wasn’t exactly their main priority this morning and Karma’s house wasn’t the most organised, but it wouldn’t be too hard to find it still on Karma’s desk. Of course this happens when Karma had actually decided to do his homework for once. 

Korosensei looked at the uncomfortable boy with confusion, which was somehow still noticeable even with his permanent grinning face. “Karma did you forget your homework?” He asked him. 

“And feel bad about it?” Karma asked, hinting Nagisa to act at least a little different from what he was doing now. 

Nagisa looked him in the eyes in confusion. After a few seconds his eyes grew big in understanding and he visibly tried to regain his posture. “U-uh….yes. But that’s fine.” Didn’t exactly sound like Karma, but it was better. 

Not willing to wait and see how this goes Karma moved over to grab the wrist of his own body and dragged him along. “Hii, yes sorry, me and N-Karma have something we need to discuss.” He tried to say it as cheerful as possible, hoping no one noticed how much he was grinding his teeth. 

He ignored whatever Korosensei called after them, probably something about how class would start in a few minutes. Karma didn’t really care about that. What he did care about was how weak Nagisa was and that dragging his own body was more weight than he was used to dragging along. He just needed to get them outside where no one would overhear their conversation. 

Once outside, he turned to Nagisa and looked him in the eyes as he spoke. “Please reconsider skipping.” 

Nagisa looked at him in confusion. He started to laugh a bit but immediately stopped when he noticed the serious look on his friend’s face. “What, seriously? I’m not going to miss school.” 

“Can you have some priorities?” Karma argued. He really felt like pacing around but stopped himself from doing so, hoping Nagisa would feel more forced to just go if he was stared at intensely. “Look,I’m not trying to be mean but you’re not exactly someone I’d expect to be a good  _ me _ ” 

“I’m… What makes you think you’ll be better at acting like me?” Nagisa retorted, obviously not happy with Karma calling him out like that. 

Karma crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at him. “Well, I actually brought the homework,  _ and _ got Kayano to believe I was you.” He felt accomplished. Being Nagisa was easy, he was good at it and he felt he could praise himself for that. 

Nagisa’s aura changed and he violently ripped open the bag he’d been carrying over his shoulder to show off all the contents it held. Some stuff fell out because of how messy it was and Karma felt himself lung forward to stop all his stuff from falling in any mud. 

“Well,  _ I’m sorry  _ someone keeps his stuff like a downright mess.” He said, an accusing tone very present in his voice. He angrily let a breath escape he’d been holding before deciding to just drop the bag on the ground. “Your books weren’t even in your bag or on your desk and...your phone! You left your phone in the  _ kitchen _ ” Karma wasn’t that much of an idiot that he didn’t realise Nagisa was angry. 

“Your phone was behind a f- a tower of pans! With an extremely late alarm that is literally useless if your phone isn’t even in your room? I’m so goddamn sorry that your house is a mess and that I figured ‘hey, Karma is a sensible person like me and probably also packs his bag the night before.’ Karma, I opened your bag right before leaving and I’m pretty sure this isn’t even what you needed for class last saturday.” 

Nagisa let out a deep sigh, as if to release the last bit of tension he had. Karma couldn’t help but look at him, perplexed by Nagisa’s sudden outburst. Maybe he’d need to cut Nagisa some slack, considering everything going on. 

“My house may be kind of a mess…” He admitted. 

“You think?!?” Nagisa said, obviously still a little annoyed. After a moment of just looking at each other he eyed the ground and all the stuff he’d thrown on it a few seconds ago. He pursed his lips in reaction and, finally, knelt down to pick everything up. 

Not saying anything, Karma joined him and helped put everything back in the bag, a little more organised than before. Neither of them talked, even when everything was put away and they’d both gotten up. 

Their uncomfortable silence was broken by a sudden call from their teacher. Both of them turned their heads in the direction of the noise. “Class is about to start!” 

They turned to each other, knowing they’d both be going in. Nagisa swung the bag back over his shoulder and started to walk towards the building. Before he really managed to walk away Karma grabbed his arm again. 

“Don’t answer any questions in class, I won’t either.” He said. Nagisa nodded in agreement. 

\-------------------

Class went by pretty normal. Occasionally Korosensei would ask a question to the class but, as promised, neither Karma nor Nagisa raised their hands once. Korosensei had probably noticed something off about Karma’s behaviour that morning because he gave him much more space than usual, not even bothering to ask anything about his homework anymore. 

Once their break time came around, both Karma and Nagisa had properly calmed down. Karma wasn’t particularly happy because, he was trying to act like nagisa, he’d made more notes than he’d ever actually made. At least he could be glad that Nagisa had the same thought and had barely made any notes. He could give Nagisa the notes later, assuming he really wanted them. 

He figured he might just as well spend his break hanging with Nagisa, that way they both wouldn’t risk doing anything stupid. The two were friends, no one would find it suspicious. All he had to do was make sure he didn’t accidentally end up talking to someone else like-

“Hey Nagisa, you’ll never guess what my dad said after school yesterday.” Sugino had appeared beside him before he had even gotten the chance to get up. If there’s one thing Karma really didn’t want right now was spend his break listening to Sugino’s probably-not-that-interesting story. 

The goal was to spend it with Nagisa and he fully intended on achieving that goal. “Actually Sugino, I’m sorry but I promised Karma we’d hang.” He said, not feeling like he was lying. To Karma this was an unspoken promise. “There was something he wanted to discuss.” He added an innocent shrug at the end. 

Sugino seemed a bit disappointed, but he said it was fine and totally understandable. Karma was already walking towards the back of the classroom when Sugino asked for his attention again with a question. 

“you still up for practicing together after school? I really want to avoid another ground out at my next game.” He laughed. 

Karma looked around a bit.  _ ‘ground out?’  _ He wasn’t exactly sure what Sugino meant at that moment. In addition to that he really didn’t feel like talking to him anymore and just wanted to leave already. Without thinking he agreed. “Yeah sure, you know it.” 

Leaving a now more happy Sugino behind Karma finally made it to his usual desk, where Nagisa hadn’t really moved. If anything he’d sunken down even more into the chair. Karma knew it was because of how completely done Nagisa probably was with the situation but he did praise the fact that it made him look more like him. 

He sat on the desk and looked at his own face, which seemed as annoyed as it really deserved to be. “I wish to go home.” He heard his own voice say, followed by a deep sigh. 

Karma agreed with that mood and let out a tiny sigh as well. “You still have the option I gave you.” He suggested, but Nagisa’s expression told him that wasn’t about to happen so he imagined a little help feeling better would be appreciated by his friend. “come oooon, surely you enjoy a little hanging back in class a bit.” But Nagisa, being himself, didn’t seem to agree with that. 

To make matters worse, both of them had forgotten their lunch. Nagisa, especially, was suffering from that, seeing as he didn’t exactly think of breakfast that morning. At least Karma had a lovely breakfast with Hiromi. Nagisa didn’t like that he’d had. 

“It’s fine, I’ll just steal korosensei’s lunch.” Karma said, thinking he’d found the perfect to their problem. 

“Like hell you are!” Nagisa argued. “You’re me right now, and you’re not about to get me in trouble!” 

Karma narrowed his eyes, thinking about possible solutions. After a short moment sat up straight, his mind bringing him the brilliance he was used to. “No one will suspect you near the teacher’s lounge. It’ll be even  _ easier  _ than usual.” He told his friend. 

Apparently his experience with this particular crime did not impress Nagisa. 

\------------------------

Karma had instructed Nagisa to be casual and lean against the wall as he was tasked to keep an eye on the door to the teacher’s lounge. If it were necessary, he could signal to him that there was danger and distract whoever could interrupt their plan by acting as much “karma” as he could. Karma kind of wanted to see Nagisa pretend to be like that but he was on an important mission.

He had to succeed mission ‘don’t starve’ for the both of them. 

Before anyone could walk into the hallway he sneaked into the teacher’s lounge, making sure to close the door behind him to have it left the way it was. He’d been in the teacher’s lounge before so he wouldn’t have to do much searching for korosensei’s food. The man kept a mini fridge in there, which Karma found a bit much but this was Korosensei he was talking about. 

He opened the fridge and saw something in the freezer compartment he hadn’t really expected for Korosensei’s lunch.  _ ‘this is Korosensei, are expectations ever in order?’  _ Without hesitation he grabbed what he’d identified as their teacher’s lunch and was about to open the door to go tell Nagisa when he heard his own voice speak louder than it should. 

“Karasuma sensei! what is up!” He could hear his own voice say. Karma couldn’t help visibly complain about how over the top Nagisa was on this. If he’d spoken at a normal volume Karma would have still heard him. The building was old, goddamnit. 

Karasuma sensei seemed suspicious of any reasons Karma had to be hanging where he was. Granted, it was suspicious and the real Karma was in fact planning something. Actually, he already nearly did it. 

He could hear Nagisa giving some casual reasons and usual reactions Karma would use too, but Karma knew that that wasn’t enough to fool Karasuma sensei. He looked around, hoping to find some kind of solution and his gaze ended on the window. 

Before things could escalate further, Karma opened the window and carefully placed the food on the ground outside, thanking his length for making that possible. He quickly made his way back to the door and exited, pretending nothing had happened inside the teacher’s lounge at all. Karasuma sensei and Nagisa both looked at him, both looking confused and for a different reason than the other. 

“Nagisa? What were you doing in the teacher’s lounge?” Karasuma asked him, though Karma could see the real Nagisa feeling spoken to when his name was mentioned.

Karma smiled and made an attempt to look Karasuma in the eye as if nothing was wrong. “Korosensei promised to help me in the break, seems he forgot and went somewhere. sorry, I wouldn’t usually go in there…” Innocent, he was trying his best to sound innocent. 

After a moment of just staring him down and making Karma a little nervous, Karasuma sensei let out a sigh and told him to just go and not do it again. Karma, falsely, promised to do just that and left with Nagisa following him. 

Once outside, Karma dragged Nagisa along to grab the meal from below the window. He grabbed it and turned to Nagisa, trying to keep in his laughter as he showed off their catch of the day. 

“Seems we’re eating ice cream for lunch.” At least Nagisa agreed that that was kind of funny. 

\------------------

It wasn’t hard to sit and anticipate their stolen lunch, as much as Nagisa complained that it was wrong to steal their teacher’s food, or anyone’s really. Karma shushed him and offered him to take the first bite already. Nagisa, who had not eaten anything that day, was honestly too hungry to say no and used their improvised cardboard spoon to take a bite with much effort.

“I- what…” Nagisa looked down at the ‘spoon’ in confusion. “I thought you said this was strawberry ice cream?” 

Karma raised an eyebrow and looked at the label on the ice cream tub. “It is. Why? Is it past its due date?” He asked as he inspected the ice cream closer. It definitely looked like strawberry ice cream. When he looked up he noticed Nagisa’s odd expression. 

“No this… this tastes better than it usually does? like, it tastes incredibly good?” He genuinely sounded confused. 

To Karma this wasn’t too much of a surprise. “Korosensei always brings food from the best place in the world. It’s probably just really good ice cream.” And with that he took a bite.

...And immediately regretted it. 

“What are you talking about? this tastes like cardboard?!” He exclaimed. “I mean I love strawberry ice cream but this is… god no.” He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t like what this ice cream tasted like. 

“That’s the thing, I never like strawberry flavoured stuff so- wait…” A look of consideration appeared on his face, it made Karma wonder if he himself looked like that when thinking. He wasn’t complaining, not complimenting either. 

“Hey so… people have different taste buds right? didn’t we learn that during biology class recently?” Nagisa questioned. “That’s why I might really like some food and you could think it tastes like whatever you think vomit tastes like? What if we-” 

Without consideration for the fact that Nagisa was talking, Karma interrupted him and grabbed for his bag, which right now was kind of Nagisa’s bag but he ignored that. He could have sworn he’d left some in his bag in case he wouldn’t get the chance to buy more. It had to be- There!

He took ahold of the pack of strawberry milk and rushed to open in. Nearly breaking the cardboard by punching the straw in he hurried and took a sip. Within seconds he had a look of disgust on his face, followed by a face of shock. 

“It’s disgusting!”    
“It’s strawberry mil-”   
“YEAH I’M SUPPOSED TO LOVE STRAWBERRY MILK.”

Nagisa raised an eyebrow, looking more cocky in Karma’s body than he intended to because his usual face was more sweet, and took the strawberry milk from his friend’s hand. He took a sip and his face lit up. “Oh woah, this tastes really good?!” 

At that moment Karma wished to die very much. For the remainder of lunch the only thing he did was complain about not liking his usual drink. Nagisa couldn’t help but think he was actually having an identity crisis over this. Who knew the strawberry milk mattered so much to him? 

\------------------

At the end of the school day both Karma and Nagisa were exhausted. They hadn’t been able to keep quiet the entire time but Karma was kind of proud of Nagisa for reacting to Terasaka’s taunts with a pretty decent answer. 

“Don’t talk Terasaka, people talk less intelligent when they notice there’s idiots around, class was kind of starting to get interesting.” He’d said. Karma wasn’t sure where it had come from, but he loved having the information that it was Nagisa who said that. Of course he couldn’t really share that information. 

The both of them decided to walk home together and talk more about what was and wasn’t allowed in each other’s houses. Karma would have preferred if Nagisa had agreed they should both sleep at his place, seeing as there would be no parents around and not much could go wrong, but Nagisa said his mother would never agree. 

“It’s a school day” He told Karma as they made their way down the mountain. “I’m supposed to be studying and going to bed in time for the next day. She knows that’s not what happens when people sleep over. Plus we can’t exactly keep doing that until this blows over.” 

Karma agreed to Nagisa’s reasoning but it also made him wonder. When would this be over? Neither of them knew if there was any time limit to this swap or if there even was an end. Perhaps they’d even have to find a way to end it themselves. 

“Besides that, I really do need you to talk to my mother the least you can. She’ll uh...notice something is off.” All of a sudden Nagisa had seemed a little nervous. Whereas earlier he was convinced they couldn’t sleep over, he suddenly seemed less sure about the idea of Karma going home to  _ his  _ mother. 

This didn’t come as a complete surprise to Karma, who had experienced a taste of Hiromi Shiota earlier that day. He had no issue remembering how… violently she had reacted to him, even though she did think he was her son. Karma couldn’t really let that moment rest, knowing very well that what his mother did wasn’t okay. It concerned him. 

“About your mother,” He started and he immediately noticed how quickly Nagisa reacted to that. It almost seemed as if he were waiting for him to discuss that, but then he probably hoped he wouldn’t. “She had  _ quite  _ the reaction this morning, to something I said.” 

All colour disappeared from the other boy’s face and Karma knew this morning wasn’t a once-in-a-blue-moon happening. That only made his concerns grow. 

“Is she...like that a lot?” He asked his friend. Said friend didn't seem very keen on reacting. It was weird for Karma to see his own face go through so many emotions and once, knowing it was in fact someone he cared for deeply struggling with something that he felt he couldn’t share. 

“Just...Just don’t talk to her unless you have to. And don’t say anything smug or-or something daring!” Nagisa said, ending that conversation. 

The rest of the way they shared, they remained silent. Karma wasn’t sure what to say next after the discussion, or rather lack thereof. Eventually it was time to split ways and both of them reminded each other of the last few rules.

Karma would talk as little as possible to Hiromi, close his eyes when going to the bathroom, stay away from Nagisa’s private stuff, not make a mess, properly brush his teeth for two minutes, floss, go to bed in time, organise his books and schoolwork instead of just drop it, pack his bag the night before, and  _ not  _ shower or bathe at least for today. 

Nagisa would stay away from Karma’s private parts, not rearrange any room even if he felt the need to, and, though Karma didn’t say it, he would not be taking a shower or anything either. 

\------------------------

Nagisa was dead tired by the time he’d arrived at Karma’s place. If anything, he wished to just sleep the day away. He knew today wasn’t exactly a dream he’d wake up from but his heart still wished to go back to his own body every moment of the day.

He especially wished to go back when he once more bumped his head onto the doorpost. He wanted to make a mental note to not do that again and pay attention instead, however, his head hurt too much to think properly. 

After awkwardly attempting to make a meal in Karma’s kitchen and ending up eating some failed rice dish he decided he would in fact just get ready for bed. Even though Karma hadn’t explicitly told him to, he closed his eyes for everything where he might see Karma’s body. Going to the bathroom but also changing into pajamas were a completely blind job to him. He didn’t mind, he liked it better than having to see anything he’d rather avoid. 

Using his own routine, he got ready to go to bed. As he walked back into Karma’s room after brushing his teeth (and avoiding hitting his head again), he felt the urge to just fall down unto Karma’s bed. He did just that. 

A sigh of complaint escaped him and he cursed once more how much it sucked to hear a different voice when doing so. He ignore his bodily discomfort and curled up under the covers. Karma’s bed was quite obviously bigger than his own at home, but Karma’s length really needed it. Even with an extra big bed he had to pull his feet up to keep them covered and not metaphorically die of the cold. 

As he curled up he pulled the entire covers over his face, feeling perhaps a little childish but at least a little comfortable in these trying times. It still wasn’t that comfortable when Karma’s blanket even  _ felt  _ different from his own.  _ ‘God I miss my own bed.’  _

He started to slowly drift to sleep and kept thinking about sleeping in his own bed and just how nice that would be. As much ease as a day without his mother had brought him, he hadn’t exactly achieved such a day with a method he very much enjoyed. If anything, he’d wish to be back in his own body, enjoy his own bed and not bump his head on every doorpost. He was sure Karma had the same wish as him: that this body swap would be over. 

He was, however, more than surprised to wake up the next morning and find himself back in his own bedroom, in a body he knew to be his own. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it I actually updated faster...MUCH faster. I hope people enjoy this chapter! It's a lot longer than the other 2, I know. From now on all chapters will be just about this length. The first 2 chapters were introduction. This is where the story begins. So no... this is NOT the end.


	4. Confusion Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa is relieved to be back in his own body and is very open about it. Karma likes that he's in his own body, but something about Nagisa is bothering him.

Nagisa had never felt as much relief as he’d felt that morning. Yesterday had been a freaky mess. He’d never expected to feel so blessed by just walking around as himself. Of course, being tall was great, but being himself was even better. 

To set the last few things straight he and Karma met up somewhere halfway on their walk to school, ensuring they had a relatively long walk together that morning. It wasn’t hard to notice the both of them felt a little awkward as they met up. Knowing what it was like in the other person’s body… it does something to you. Nagisa wouldn’t call it a greater understanding, but it was something. 

“Honestly, I know we have an inhuman teacher to kill and all, I still think yesterday was the weirdest thing to happen to me,  _ ever _ .” Nagisa said, breaking the ever so slightly uncomfortable silence the two had been having since their initial greeting. 

Karma nodded in agreement. It bothered Nagisa that he wasn’t just talking. Surely he didn’t actually like the tension filled silent air they experienced. His lack of reaction did insinuate that was the truth. Nagisa, however, wasn’t exactly yearning for that awkwardness. 

“Well, It’s over.” Nagisa smiled at his friend, guessing Karma just felt weird and wishing to reassure him. “Thank god it’s over.” 

Karma raised an eyebrow at him, which slightly confused Nagisa. “How’s your mom?” He asked him. 

Truth be told, Nagisa didn’t want to answer that question. If anything he didn’t want to be asked that question. He didn’t even want people to have to  _ consider _ that question. It wasn’t something he really discussed, and for a good reason too. It’s not like people would really understand it. 

Sometimes he himself didn’t even understand. His mother was a weird case. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew things weren’t really okay. But, he also knew that  _ she was his mother,  _ that meant enough for him to endure it and keep his calm, as he should. He didn’t want to be a bother to her or make her feel bad after all she’s done for him. 

“Well,” He was about to lie, but something about Karma’s face told him that wasn’t the right thing to do right now. “...She was in a bad mood this morning.” He admitted. Before Karma could react to him he continued speaking himself. 

“But it’s fine, she was just grumpy. I mean, I would be too if my son just acted off an entire day. And… Not much happened this morning anyways. Seems she was in a hurry too.” He explained. Karma still didn’t seem very convinced, but for the rest of the way he didn’t say anything about it either. 

The moment they arrived at the bottom of the mountain Nagisa noted Sugino standing there. He waved to him, showing off his usual kind smile. This gesture, however, was rewarded by a not-too-happy look from Sugino. Confused, Nagisa lowered his hand slowly and walked over. 

“Sugino, what’s-” He started saying, but his friend interrupted him before he could actually say anything. 

“I waited for over an hour, you know that?” Sugino spoke to him in a more aggressive tone Nagisa was used to of his friend. He was so surprised he moved back a little, but Sugino wasn’t even done yet. “Dude, you can’t just ditch on your friends like that and then also ignore my calls! Maybe don’t make promises if you’re not going to keep to them?” 

For a moment no one said anything. Nagisa just kind of stared at his angry friend. He was visibly confused and slightly afraid to ask. “Can- Can you tell me what this is about?” He asked carefully. 

Nagisa saw his fear become reality as he saw Sugino’s eyes grew wide in surprise. His head turned away as if he couldn’t look at him, much to Nagisa’s dismay. He seemed to collect his thoughts before saying “You forgot, great.” and walking away, leaving Nagisa speechless. 

Beside him, Karma just witnessed what happened without reacting. “Well, he’s angry.” He said, stating the obvious. 

Nagisa turned to him, confused on why he even felt the need to say such a thing.  _ ‘He probably doesn’t care about this.’ _ His mind wanted an explanation for Karma’s lack of proper reaction. 

“I don’t get why he’s mad at me.” He said, mostly to himself. He racked his brain for anything he might have promised to Sugino, but really nothing came up. “Don’t think I promised anything…” 

Suddenly he noticed Karma showing a face that told him he might have had an idea on what was going on. Nagisa was about to prompt him, however, Karma spoke up by himself. 

“He talked to me, or, you I guess, about ground balls or whatever and some practice?” He uttered. “I wasn’t sure what he meant but-” 

Before he could say anything Nagisa jumped in front of him. “You promised to practice with him?!” He asked the taller boy, who was quite shocked about the sudden action of his friend and jumped back a little. Karma nodded in response, earning an enraged look from Nagisa. 

“He meant baseball after school you idiot!” Nagisa nearly yelled at him. This was preceded by Nagisa raising his fist and punching Karma in the arm angrily, earning a noise of complaint from Karma. 

Karma rubbed his arm, whining about his ouwie. 

\---------------------

The entire day, Karma couldn’t stop watching Nagisa. In class he was doing what he usually did. He payed attention, made way more notes than he’d  _ ever  _ need, and actually asked questions. Karma had to admit they weren’t the smartest questions, in his opinion, but he figured his mental level was just a little higher. 

During the break Nagisa had desperately tried to talk to Nagisa. The emphasis is on  _ tried.  _ Any attempt Nagisa made to talk to his angered friend were rewarded with complete silence or at the very best an irritated glare. 

How was he supposed to have known what he was promising? He didn’t even understand what Sugino was talking about, much less was he informed that he and Nagisa played baseball after school together. Somehow that idea annoyed him. 

He didn’t like that Nagisa punched him. It hadn’t actually hurt that much, Nagisa definitely wasn’t physically strong enough to give him more than a bruise. Something in him wanted to get annoyed at Nagisa for it, but another thing stopped him again. 

He couldn’t stop his annoyance forever. After school he and Nagisa walked back together. Nagisa still seemed a little anxious, worried something would happen again if they weren’t careful. As if them not walking together before was the reason they swapped bodies the day before. 

Karma didn’t mind walking with Nagisa… Usually. 

“I can’t believe he won’t even talk to me!” Nagisa complained, obviously still getting over the Sugino thing. Karma didn’t see the big deal. If anything, Nagisa should know Sugino wasn’t one to hold grudges, it wasn’t in his nature. 

“It’s fine,” he sighed. All he wanted was for Nagisa to stop. “He’ll get over it, probably tomorrow already.” 

Nagisa let out a subtle humm and looked ahead as he walked. Although he still didn’t seem to have concluded his thoughts his expression was calmer. He realised something. 

“Yeah, at least I can solve it myself now.” He said. 

Karma stopped walking suddenly. In response, Nagisa stumbled and turned to look at his friend, confused on why he’d ceased so sudden. Karma let out a long breath before he spoke again. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked, a suspicious glare directed exactly at Nagisa. 

“Well,” Nagisa carefully explained. “I’m back in my own body, so I can solve this disagreement myself. I’m relieved, you know?” 

It took everything within Karma to withhold him from raising his voice. He could hear his voice struggle to stay low as he talked again. “What you don’t trust me to solve things then?” 

He really wanted Nagisa to react sooner. All he did was stand there and look at Karma, and the look wasn’t exactly a _ ‘proud of you’  _ or  _ ‘I think you’re capable of doing this’  _ look. If anything, It looked like the face of someone who was thinking  _ ‘should you even be asking that?’  _

“Honestly? no.” He heard Nagisa say. “Karma you’re not exactly the champion of the friendship thing, or dealing with things like I would.” 

Karma had not enough energy to react to that. He could hear Nagisa ask him if he was okay, and if he was mad. Karma just let out an irritated groan and kept walking, a little too fast for Nagisa to keep up without struggling. 

After a bit he changed the topic, asking Nagisa about his plans for their latest English assignment. Nagisa definitely noticed the sudden change, but went along with it. It seemed he misunderstood their entire assignment anyways. He didn’t seem to enthusiastic to start all over. 

\--------------

_ Hey mom, don’t worry about dinner. I’ve done the groceries and I’ll cook tonight! _

Nagisa couldn’t help but stare at his text a few minutes before sending it. His mother hadn’t been in the best mood and he really just wanted her to not be so tense, for both their well beings. Any wrong word and he could be making her mood even worse than it already was. He didn’t want to come across like he was trying to hard. 

He was trying really hard, though. 

With a sigh he came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t really get better than this, and sent the text, and hoped she’d appreciate the thought. One day with Karma and got  _ like that  _ pretty badly. It sort of scared Nagisa how unconsciously he’d been tiptoeing around his mother to keep her calm. 

He was glad to be back in his own body. He couldn’t say that enough. It was just so true. His mother got a bad mood, sure, but he was also fighting with Sugino now, something Nagisa couldn’t very much appreciate. Sugino would never get mad at him like that, they were trustworthy friends to each other. 

Then again trustworthy friends don’t ditch each other. Not that he did. Karma was the one who ditched Sugino but Nagisa couldn’t exactly tell his best friend about that. Like,  _ ‘hey, no worries! I didn’t forget you, I was simply in another guy’s body!’  _

Yes, because that would make thing so much better and he wouldn’t sound crazy at all. 

But, everything was okay now. He could fix everything Karma messed up in his body. A shiver ran past his spine at the idea of Karma being in his body any longer. He couldn’t deal with seeing Karma’s… things… Let alone let Karma see his. 

During dinner his mother felt better, much to Nagisa’s luck. She seemed genuinely pleased with Nagisa’s efforts for dinner and on top of that he also offered to do the dishes. She might have been  _ better _ , but Nagisa had to admit he still didn’t feel completely on ease when his mother left him one piece of knowledge before he went to bed.

“Nagisa, sweety, you’d better not avoid me again like you did yesterday evening. You don’t want to ruin your poor mother right?” She’d said it in the most ominous tone too. All Nagisa could do in response is smile and nod at her. She didn’t want to hear anything from him. He went to his bedroom, knowing better than to increase chances of another talk with his mother. 

He felt his body relax more the moment he closed his bedroom door. There might only be a single door enclosing him in the room, but it felt much safer. A long sigh escaped his body as he stood in the middle of his bedroom, not doing much of anything. 

Without much delay he decided he’d just go to sleep. With everything going on he felt a little too exhausted to do any reading like he usually would. He didn’t even feel like gaming. The warmth and comfort of his own bed sheets were way more relaxing, especially after experiencing someone else’s without really intending to. 

It didn’t take long for him to drift off into his usual dreamless sleep. 

\---------------

The moment Nagisa felt himself wake up he knew something was wrong. He felt around with his hands. He was in a bed, yes, but it definitely wasn’t his. His entire body felt unusual too, but also a little familiar. He really did not like where this seemed to be going. 

At first, he refused to open his eyes. Maybe if he kept them closed it wouldn’t be true. He could go back to sleep and realise it was his own bed after all. If he opened his eyes… He might see exactly that which he didn’t want to see. 

He couldn’t keep his eyes closed. After a bit he opened them and immediately let out a loud groan, noticing the room he’d woken up in. 

He was back in Karma’s body. 

\---------------

On any other occasion, Karma would love walking to school with Nagisa. Nagisa was good company and he liked being around the guy, they discussed games and stuff and… Nagisa reacted funnily. It was a good start of the day.

He’d prefer walking with him when Nagisa was actually… Nagisa. 

Nothing was weirder than walking to school (with those short legs) and having your friend catch up to you yelling “Hey wait!” in  _ your  _ voice. It was wrong and Karma wanted the complete picture of Nagisa: A short, cute, blue haired idiot who gets enthusiastic over the weirdest stuff. 

The Nagisa he was with now was just complaining to him. “I thought this was over?!” He was clearly frustrated over the situation. Karma couldn’t say he was feeling the same. 

“Yeah dude, this isn’t exactly my fault.” Karma said, hoping Nagisa would stop complaining to him. The complaining wasn’t going to get them anywhere. 

Karma didn’t reply much for the rest of the way to school. He was annoyed. Nagisa was ranting a little about the situation. Well, ‘a little’ might be an understatement. He didn’t stop at all, it seemed pretending was effort, keeping up with class without notes was impossible, and Karma made him look ridiculous by not tying up his hair. Of course he had to mention the whole Sugino thing again. Karma decided that was the point where he’d stop listening. 

Both of them were still grumpy by the time they arrived at their secluded school building where there ever-grinning teacher was awaiting them outside. He was talking to Hinano and Yada but they walked inside and left him alone with Karma and Nagisa approaching him. 

Korosensei looked at who he thought to be Nagisa and sounded a little surprised as he spoke. “Nagisa? your hair down again today?” It was a reasonable thing to wonder about. 

Karma let out an annoyed grunt and walked past him. “None of your business, octopus.” He said, storming ahead. 

A slightly panicked Karma followed him, his hands raised as if to somehow want to stop the other boy. He quickly stopped and bowed hastily as an apology to Korosensei for ‘Nagisa’s’ behaviour and then proceeded to follow him into the building in a hurry. 

Korosensei looked after the two, a little confused about what had just happened. 

\---------------------

It was hard for Karma to keep paying attention to class. Not that he had to. Anytime he did take a look at the board to see what was going on he already knew the information or easily figured out the answers to the assignments. Sure, this was E class, but sometimes he felt like some people were real idiots for how slow their understanding was. 

Yes, that was about Terasaka. 

He knew Nagisa would get mad at him for not taking notes, what with  _ him  _ trying so hard to stay in character. Right now neither of them were taking notes but Nagisa apparently really needed them. Honestly, if he asked, Karma would personally teach him on all of this. Then again, Nagisa never did ask. 

For a moment he looked over his shoulder, trying to see what Nagisa was up to while being him. Apparently what he was up to was staring at him. He looked angry, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked from his eyes to the desk he wasn’t writing on. Karma didn’t feel much like writing, no thank you. 

He turned back to look at the board.  _ ‘they’re still doing logarithms?’  _ He let out a sigh as softly possible as he could manage. He couldn’t care about class, not when Nagisa was so...so…  _ Negative  _ about him. 

It was right before class, the two had had another one of their talks. Most of it was Nagisa saying “Don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t be  _ you _ ” and it didn’t fall right to Karma. The only thing Nagisa thought about him right now was that he was doing things wrong. 

“I wouldn’t talk to Korosensei like that!” He’d complained after the incident outside. Karma didn’t blame himself, surely he was allowed to be a little grumpy right now. 

“It makes sense he’d ask me about the hair, I would  _ never  _ wear it down.” He’d continued after Karma didn’t react. “It’s not that hard to tie it up, you could at the very least try to do it.” 

It just kept coming. It felt as if Nagisa was coming at him for ages before he finally ended his complaining with a sigh. The last thing they did was wish each other good luck in class. Karma had a feeling he should warn Nagisa about something too, but truth be told all he had to do was not interact with people or act like a total nerd. 

Nagisa didn’t think him walking away was a good ending to that. Before he could have walked away completely, Nagisa had grabbed him. Karma really hated that Nagisa had his physical strength at that point. 

“Karma, I’m asking you to take this  _ serious _ .” 

Karma took another glance at the boy in his body, he’d started taking a few notes, it seemed. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes and stare at the empty page in his notebook again. It’s not like he wasn’t capable of taking notes. Nagisa said he liked the ones he made the other day. It just wasn’t his priority right now. 

_ serious.  _ Did he really think he wasn’t taking this serious? He felt a rage come up at the memory of Nagisa’s words. He was taking this as serious as he could, but  _ look at the situation. _ If he worried like Nagisa he might implode on the spot. No, you know what, go big or go home, explode. He’d explode right there and destroy earth like Korosensei said he would by next march. 

Great, now he was overreacting. 

Before he could urge himself to calm down he heard a small snapping noise and felt his pencil fall out of his hand. With a single glance down he realised he’d broken his pencil. He sure was having a great day. 

Someone let out a small cough beside him, obviously fake and meant to attract attention. Karma looked over to see Kayano carefully holding out a pencil to him. He took it, trying to put a smile on his grumpy looking face. It looked awfully forced. 

Kayano didn’t seem to mind and smiled to him before returning to her work. This girl had so much patience. How on earth was she always this happy go lucky? 

Once more he stared at his paper.  _ ‘could this class be over already?’  _ How much had he stared at this paper and to the board at this point? He’d completely lost track of time during all his thinking about Nagisa. 

He knew what was wrong. Nagisa was disappointed with him. He’d made his mother angry, got him into a fight with Sugino, couldn’t even tie his hair up, and overall seemed to be ruining his life apparently. Maybe he wasn’t the best at this. 

He really didn’t want Nagisa to be disappointed with him. If anything, he hated the feeling of Nagisa thinking about him badly. All he wanted was for Nagisa to be proud of him and trust him. It didn’t seem like that would be happening any time soon. 

He’d been so lost in his thoughts again that he jumped a little when everyone around him suddenly got up and started walking around.  _ ‘seems it’s lunchtime…’  _ He slowly managed to get up, a little awkward in the crowds of people accumulating around the tables close to him. Kayano went over to Sugino’s table, but Karma figured he, as Nagisa, wasn’t welcome there right now. He wanted to leave the scene and go to his table where Nagisa would still be hanging but Nagisa was ahead of him. 

Nagisa was standing in front of him, still looking like… well, an angry Karma. It was very clear he was going to vent again and Karma started getting a headache at the idea of it. He put his hand up, trying to stop Nagisa before he could continue, but the both of them were interrupted by someone else joining the scene. 

“Nagisa, can we talk?” Sugino asked, standing next to who was actually Nagisa, looking Karma in the eye. He showed quite a bit of determination to actually have this talk with him right now. Now was sort of a bad time, however. 

Nagisa looked at him exasperated. “Seriously,  _ now?! _ ” He turned to Sugino, who jumped a little at the sudden event of Karma talking to him angrily.  _ ‘oh, if only he knew.’  _

Not wanting things to escalate, Karma took ahold of what was usually his own arm and looked into his friend’s eyes. “Hey  _ Karma,  _ why don’t you take some distance?” He suggested, clarifying to Nagisa what the situation actually was. 

Nagisa… didn’t seem pleased about that. He tore his arm free and walked away with an aura around him that made several people take their distance. Somehow, Karma didn’t care too much that people thought that was him, it somewhat kept a dangerous image of him in their minds, even if it was a little different from the usual. 

He turned back to Sugino, figuring he’d have to somehow solve this. Something inside him felt a little happy about that, he could fix the very problem he caused himself. That meant talking to Sugino, however. 

“Dude, you have to tell me what happened.” Sugino said, finally focusing on him rather than the angry person that had just stormed away. “It really sucks you just  _ ditched  _ me.” 

Karma held out his hands in front of him, as if ready to surrender. “You have to understand, it wasn’t like, an intentional ditching thing.” He tried to reassure his friend.

It seemed Sugino was just more confused now, but he didn’t speak or interrupt him either. Karma took this as a sign to continue. 

“You see, I- Yes, I forgot” He admitted, earning a face portraying resentment. “But! But- you see, I- I uh- …. I got a call from my mother.” Now that earned a reaction from Sugino. Karma noted that Sugino had also met Nagisa’s mother before, at the same time as him, very briefly when they hung out at Nagisa’s place. 

“She needed me home and I- well I hurried home and in all that haste I guess I forgot?” This was all he had. He really hoped Sugino wouldn’t ask for specifics because he did  _ not  _ have those. 

He’d looked a little hesitant at first but after a long moment of tension he just laughed.  _ laughed.  _ Karma did not get people. Why was he laughing. 

“and here I thought you didn’t like hanging out with me anymore!” Sugino lightly punched his shoulder, in a friendly manner of course. Karma went along with it and let out a little laugh, hoping that was somehow the right reaction to this particular situation. 

“I’d never.” He said, knowing Nagisa apparently very much enjoyed practicing baseball with his friend. He wouldn’t want to take that from him, it made him smile. Karma liked his smile. 

Weird moment for that thought, but okay. 

Sugino let out a sigh of relief. “Well at least that’s good then.” He said. “I mean you’re hanging out with Karma so much the past two days, felt like you were ditching me there.” 

Knowing the strange irony of this conversation, Karma didn’t react much to that. Just smiled at the other boy before realising this probably meant he wanted to spend the break with him. As much as he wanted to mend Nagisa’s friendship with sugino as best to his abilities, he’d rather spend it with Nagisa himself, not as Nagisa. 

Also Nagisa was kind of the one that needed his company right now if that storming off thing meant anything. 

“Can we hang after school?” He asked, hoping to stall this social interaction a little longer. “Karma really wanted to talk about something and well, I’m not ditching you, he seemed really annoyed and might need a… talk.” This seemed like reasonable enough of a lie to Karma. 

It seemed he thought right because Sugino nodded and moved out of the way for him. “Good luck with that, Karma’s a strange guy.” Karma did his best not to feel hurt about that and waved a little at Sugino as he walked away. He wasn’t  _ that weird. _

Karma approached Nagisa, who was waiting for him in the back corner of the classroom with his arms crossed in annoyance, and opened his arms as if he were about to bow after a performance. “I dare say I just solved your fight.” He said, proud of himself.

For a few seconds Nagisa just stared at him. “Forreal?” He then asked. Karma nodded in response.

“Like, forreal forreal?” He dropped his arms to his side. Karma’s smile grew as he nodded again. 

Nagisa smiled at him, finally. And Karma, though he would very much prefer seeing this smile on Nagisa himself, felt his heart to a little jump around a little in his chest. It seemed Nagisa’s irritation with him had finally come to an end and had been replaced by that feeling of pride he’d been yearning for. 

This made him incredibly happy. 

Nagisa stayed happy during the entirety of their lunch break, much to Karma’s joy. For the first time since that day had begun he talked about something  _ other  _ than their body swap. With so much ease they discussed the ending of the game they both recently finished, not bothered too much by the idea of sort of talking to themselves. 

As he listened to Nagisa talk about the hero’s ‘infamous’ last speech he couldn’t help but wish that things were like this forever. Nagisa happy, him listening with joy, and the both of them not fighting. He wished they didn’t always end up fighting. 

He was interrupted from his train of thought as Nagisa asked him a question suddenly. “Hey I uh, I could maybe tie your hair up for you?” He offered, his eyes looking at him with a bright expression. “I know you might’ve never done it before, so I don’t mind helping with my experienced hands. Well… They’re currently, your hands...but...you know-” 

“I know what you mean.” Karma stopped him from rambling too much. “And that’d be great.” 

Immediately Nagisa returned to portraying a soft smile on his face. He liked this. Nagisa trusting him with this and being at ease. He was so proud of him for solving his issue so effortlessly, even if he had caused it himself. He could be, and was, a little proud of himself too, but that wasn’t the same. 

A moment of realisation came to him as he watched Nagisa happily continue doing his thing. Karma wanted so much more than for Nagisa to be at easy with him. He didn’t want Nagisa to be proud of him or trust him.

He wanted Nagisa to  _ love  _ him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a filler chapter, but I hope people still like it. This was needed for pacing but it was NOT the most fun to write so far. The next chapter is a lot more fun to me. 
> 
> I know my uploading schedule is seemingly random but there is a pattern... sort of. I try to post new chapters on fridays, either every week or every other. It depends a little on how busy I am with uni and how I myself feel. I hope people don't mind.
> 
> I'm so proud of 100+ kudos (I've never had this many and it means a lot to me), also any time I get a comment my heart flutters a little. I thank you all for the support! 
> 
> Till uh... maybe next week?


	5. Nagisa's Opinion Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma plays some baseball with Sugino after school, learning a little bit about what Nagisa thinks of him. Meanwhile Nagisa contemplates his and Karma's friendship and experiences a weird night.

“So, we’ll call the moment you get back?” Nagisa asked to verify their plans. “Or, at least after you talked to my mother, I guess.” 

Most likely holding back a comment about how much of a worrywart Nagisa was being, Karma nodded. He didn’t seem too bothered about meeting with Sugino and Nagisa trusted, and hoped, that meant he really did have it under control. Of course he’d still like to discuss how it went afterwards, partly so he knows what to be prepared for the next day. He really wants to stop looking like a forgetful idiot every other day. 

He eyed Karma again, trying to read his expression. He looked pretty neutral. Well, actually he looked like Nagisa, but that was something he was getting a little used to by now. He looked like Nagisa in physique but his entire aura was different, it was really just Karma shining through. 

Nagisa had wished for a cool aura like Karma’s ever since they’d met. His brain had gone in an overdrive when  _ the  _ Akabane Karma had talked to him for the first time. Something inside of him wanted to hang out with him at any possible moment, hoping to see some of his cooler actions and getting to listen to him talking about their math assignment as if it were like riding a bicycle. For someone like him to be stuck in his pathetic body… It wasn’t right. 

And Nagisa hadn’t been too kind about it. Part of him blamed the pure panic of the situation that made him act different from usual. But, truth be told, he also felt like this was just how he and Karma were. 

Karma would make fun of him, he’d get annoyed. He’d try to talk to Karma and Karma would take about ten steps back. He’d keep his distance and somehow Karma came closer, yet also distant. Sometimes it was as if there was a wall between the two and they always reacted different then you’d expect from two close friends. 

Perhaps that was just the nature of their friendship. 

Before Nagisa can talk Karma through their plans _just_ _one more time,_ he notices Sugino approaching them. Of course, he only came for Nagisa. Not the real Nagisa, just whoever was in Nagisa’s body at that moment. So the real Nagisa smiled at the friend in his body and waved him goodbye, hoping his smile conveys the trust he had in him. The smile his friend returns might say just that. 

Nagisa was still worried, he wouldn’t deny that, but at least he wanted to trust Karma. There was no doubt he’d try whatever he can to make this sail smoothly. Karma proved he could do it earlier, and he’d do it again. There doesn’t seem much to go wrong here. 

After all it’s just a little baseball after school. 

\---------------------

Karma is throwing balls with Sugino, baseballs that is. Sugino is practicing his pitch and Karma, as Nagisa, just catches them and throws them back. He’s supposed to comment on how Sugino is doing, but he isn’t too sure on how. In the end he just kind of says things like “That one was harder” and “More predictable, I think” he figures that would be enough for Sugino to be pleased, it’s not like Nagisa knows  _ that  _ much more about baseball. 

He can at least be proud about the fact that he caught nearly every ball.

The two start talking a bit as they throw. Stupid topics, really, such as school and whatever matches Sugino watched on TV lately. It doesn’t interest Karma that much but he supposes Nagisa would care about his friends’ lives, no matter how dull they were. 

For a moment, Sugino hesitated, before asking him what he’s been doing. That topic was too tedious for Karma to discuss if there was a possibility for something much more interesting. That hesitation must have meant  _ something.  _

“What were you about to say?” He threw the ball back at Sugino again, who caught it with ease. The doubt from earlier returned to his face and Karma got all the more curious as to what it was about. “You know you can talk to me about anything?” 

Sugino let out a sigh of confliction. “I don’t know, it’s-” he stopped himself. “there’s no reason to bother you with this.” 

Karma rolled his eyes, of course he had to make this difficult.  _ ‘don’t start to show something if you don’t want to actually talk about it.’  _ It was frustrating, mostly because he just didn’t get it. Nagisa would say Sugino  _ does  _ want to discuss something, he just needed to get it out. If he wanted to discuss it he should just do it. 

“You can talk to me, you know?” That seemed to earn a smile from Sugino, which was a sign to Karma he was doing pretty well. “That’s what- That’s what we’re friends for, right?” 

In reaction, Sugino laughed out a sigh, nodding his head in agreement. “That we are.” It was a little funny to Karma. In all honesty he had to hold back a laugh about the whole friendship thing, considering that wasn’t exactly the situation. 

For a short moment, there’s just silence. Karma feared he did something wrong and hoped Sugino wasn’t about to have another drama queen moment. Something told him he couldn’t handle disappointing Nagisa that much again, and on the same topic too. After his realisation of just what Nagisa meant to him, he didn’t want to have things take a turn for the worse. 

“it’s just, I feel bad about how I acted and I don’t think I ever even- I didn’t  _ really _ say sorry.” At first Karma was glad Sugino finally started speaking, but within seconds he felt awkward about the whole ordeal. He just kind of shrugged as a reaction. 

“No, dude, I’m serious.” Sugino started again. “I got  _ so _ pissed at you for, what? You forgot one hang out. It wasn’t even a big deal, we hang out after school so much that missing one wouldn’t be the worst. I made a big fuss over something so small, it was kind of bad even if you didn’t have a valid reason.” 

“If I were you, I’d, well, I’d still be mad at me. You have every right to go at me and tell me I’m wrong but you’re being you and just- well you’re being really forgive and forget about this whole ordeal. About everything actually. Sometimes I wonder what it takes to really get you to rage other than threaten to kill someone.” 

Karma didn’t want to think about that one. Not a single bone in his body wanted Nagisa to be mad at him. Something about Nagisa, something in his personality and body language, told him he’d rather not have any of his friend’s anger directed at him. 

Perhaps that was a lie. Something inside of him wanted to see Nagisa get really angry. Not the frustration he’d shown over this bodyswap thing, that wasn’t true rage. In his mind he tended to imagine really breaking Nagisa. He imagined finding that weak spot and seeing Nagisa’s true nature. 

He wanted to see Nagisa as he really was, not just the sweet person he outwardly showed to be. There had to be more to the enigma that was Shiota Nagisa. 

“anyway I just-” Apparently Sugino was at loss for words again, not that Karma thought he had much new to tell him. He wasn’t Nagisa, he agreed there was something more to the real deal but, truth be told, he couldn’t tell the other guy what it was. “I am sorry, even if you’re apparently not angry.” 

Karma figured that was the right sentiment. “It’s okay, really.” He said. “things happen, bet it was more than just the hang out or whatever.” 

_ That  _ Sugino seemed to agree with. He seemed to do half an eye roll as he nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I was pretty irritated I guess, what, with the whole Karma thing.” 

For a short moment Karma didn’t react, he needed a moment to process that. His name. Sugino was talking about him, to Nagisa, but it was him. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this is not right, but Karma wanted to know just why Sugino was bothered by him. 

Not that he cared, of course not. He was clearly above that. 

But it couldn’t hurt to know, right? 

He decided to inquire further. “What about Karma?” his curiousity hidden in his word. Whether it was hidden very well depended on who you asked. It was a good thing for Karma that Sugino wasn’t that observant. His mind wondered on that, knowing Nagisa was. 

Not that he was supposed to be thinking about Nagisa at that moment. He cursed his teenage brain for his crush obsession. 

“Thing is, you and Karma hang out so much.” Sugino started. “I kind of thought you were ditching me for him. I appreciate our friendship and- and I’m not saying I think you’d drop it for the next best person! I trust you more than that!” 

“But you and Karma have been hanging out so much the past three days, you even hang out with him during every break. And even before that the two of you are like, I don’t know, close-ish? We’ve discussed that enough, probably. Or maybe we haven’t because- Because with how much we talk about Karma I just feel a little iffy about it.” 

Everything Sugino was saying made no sense to Karma. Ignoring the lack of coherent story telling, it was just a weird… opinion? What on earth did he mean when he said ‘close-ish?’ He and Nagisa were close, they hung out, they’ve always done that. Nagisa’s company was something Karma actually appreciated and with how easily Nagisa went along with it, he assumed it was mutual. The two of them were friends. 

So why did Nagisa talk about him so much? 

“well, we’re friends,” Karma pretended to laugh it off. Sugino was just being dramatic again. With how he acted about the missed hang out earlier, it was a normal hypothesis. “we hang out, just like us two do. It’s not weird to discuss your friends.” 

Sugino looked at him with disbelief. “ _ discuss? _ Nagisa what we do isn’t just discussing. Is it possible you don’t even  _ notice  _ you’re full on ranting to me?” Still portraying his confusion, he shook his head. “You have every right to, not gonna lie.” 

Now, Karma knew that he was invading on something here, but, he also knew this was about him and he felt like he had the right to know. If Nagisa, his  _ friend,  _ had said something about him, he deserved to know what on earth it was. 

“I don’t… particularly remember which- what I’ve told you already… specifically I mean.” Playing the forgetful card, not ideal but all he had. 

“Dude, so much. Akabane Karma is  _ scary.  _ I tell you that every time.” Sugino stressed. “the guy has no respect for rules, whether they’re actual school rules or just social rules that you obviously need to follow. Sometimes I wonder if he even knows how to communicate. He has words, sure, but that’s where it  _ ends. _ ” 

it took everything within Karma to withhold him from punching the other guy in the face.  _ ‘pretend to be Nagisa, stay calm like Nagisa. Nagisa wouldn’t hit his friend… probably.’  _ He kept repeating it in his head, trying to calm himself down. Sure, Sugino didn’t know he was talking to Karma, but it was still idiotic how easily he judged him without even knowing him that well. 

Surely Nagisa hadn’t said that stuff. 

“I-sure, whatever.” He tried to keep his voice steady. “But my rants?” 

Sugino let out a sigh, and only when he started throwing the ball up in the air to catch it himself did Karma notice they had stopped throwing the ball to each other. He had his priorities. 

“Same old stuff, him being inconsiderate.” a way too simple answer. 

“He’s not that bad,” Karma defended himself, hoping Nagisa would be like that too. His friend was considerate, forgiving and, well, his  _ friend _ at the very least (even if Karma wanted to be more to him). Nagisa would defend his friend. 

“You always say that, and then you keep complaining about him.” Sugino’s tone really took an annoyed turn there. “He literally puts you in dresses, I don’t believe you would be one to forget that, you made very clear how it makes you feel. At least it’s clear to  _ me _ and, well,  _ any sane person. _ ”

“You were talking my head off only two weeks ago about how horrible you felt at Karma’s behaviour. You’re allowed to say the guy hurts you. The truth is that Akabane Karma is a weirdo, who’s borderline assaulting you, Nagisa. He’s some delinquent and- It’s a wonder you hold it out with him.” 

Karma clenched his fists, no longer looking in Sugino’s direction. “I say that?” 

“Basically. I mean, he really is hard to be around.” 

“Hard to be around?”

“Sometimes I wonder why you still hang out with him.” 

An awful feeling came to Karma’s stomach. Without much thought, he dropped the baseball glove to the ground and said he had to go. He registered Sugino is calling after him, asking him what’s up and if they’ll meet up tomorrow. 

he doesn’t answer him. 

\-----------------------------

When he reached the bottom of the mountain, he was more than done with the day. Karma never was one to socialize a lot, and even if he did it was only with a select group of people. It wasn’t like Sugino was part of that group before, but he definitely wouldn’t be a part of it  _ now.  _

Nagisa was in the selection. He was the top of the selection, actually. Every fiber of Karma’s being wanted Nagisa to stay on that top. If he really said what Sugino told him however… 

Before he could ponder on it internally any longer, he noticed Kayano approaching him. She seemed as peppy as ever, unbothered by the fact that the target of her smile was  _ not  _ feeling it. She arrived in front of him with a little skip in her last step. 

“Nagisa! Lucky I run into you, I feared I had to walk alone the entire way.” Relief was clear in her voice. She had no fear showing her teeth in the big smile painted on her face. “we could walk together?” 

“Yeah sure, whatever.” It didn’t seem like it was a question at all, if Karma was honest. He felt it was a given he’d walk with her. In his head he was already planning an excuse, something about having to take a different turn to go past someone or something. 

The two walked in silence for a bit. The silence didn’t last long however, Kayano wasn’t the type of person to enjoy a comfortable silence when there were such interesting topics to discuss. 

Interesting to her, perhaps. 

“I’m really glad you and Sugino aren’t in that weird disagreement anymore,” She admitted. “Really prefer this… Harmony.” Apparently she needed time to think of the right term. 

“You know what we should do? Go to a cafe! Remember last time the three of us went? It was just so much fun and, well, I prefer going with you two because you actually let me taste a bite of your cakes. Okay, given, I ate more than one bite of each, but in my defense they were good cakes and you said you weren’t that much of a sweet tooth anyways.” 

As she lets out a tiny laugh Karma can’t help but be a little happy for Nagisa, knowing that he gets to have such a good time with his friends. This feeling, however, was still overshadowed by the negativity from his talk with Sugino. And Sugino was involved in this friendship thing Kayano was discussing. 

He was in no mood to be discussing this at that moment. But, he wasn’t exactly sure how to stop Kayano from going on about the topic either. Perhaps a new topic would be enough. There was something Karma wanted to know from Kayano. He wasn’t sure if it would improve his mood or make it worse, however. 

Probably not thinking it through, he decided to ask her about himself. Himself being Karma. But the moment he mentioned his own name to her she got a certain look in her eye. At first Karma didn’t recognize it, but after a bit he realised it was more startled distaste, like Sugino had shown him as well. 

“Did he say something weird again?!” She pointed accusingly at him. Karma knew she was pointing at Nagisa so he’d be honest to her, however, he felt a little incriminated by her finger in combination with the fact that he was the one they were actually discussing. “I will kick his shins if you need me to!” 

In surprise, he raises his hands in a defensive manner. “Woah woah, no shin kicking necessary!” He said, much quicker than intended. He did not need his shins to be assaulted by the tiny grasshopper. “I’m- what do you mean with saying something weird?” He continues, hoping she’d forget about any thoughts of hurting him. 

“Nagisa, we’ve talked this over. You shouldn’t be so accepting when Karma does something bad.” She let out a sigh and then turned to him with a smile. “It’s like you’re always defending him, even when you don’t have to.” 

Karma nodded carefully. “Do you have any problems with Karma? Or, me hanging out with him at the very least?” 

Kayano took a moment to think, tapping her index finger to her chin in consideration. “I’m not really sure,” She ended up admitting, “You and Karma just- I wish you’d take distance from him sometimes and- I think you two have a weird way of communicating. Or maybe it’s that you don’t, really.” 

Neither of them say anything. The awkward silence hanging in the air seems to take a lot of Kayano. Her face gets scrunched up the longer the silence lasts. It’s almost like she’ll explode soon, Karma figures he should come with that excuse now. 

Before he can, Kayano does speak up. “I’m on your side, you know that, right?” 

Somehow, Karma wants to feel relieved at that. He does know, however, that she meant she’s on Nagisa’s side. 

Nagisa’s side against Karma. 

He doesn’t say anything the rest of their walk. By now it seems Kayano has gotten used to the sudden quietness to his friend. Eventually Karma lied, saying he needed to go past a corner store for his mother, he’d need to take a different turn from her. Kayano smiled and waved him off. 

Karma didn’t mind taking a slightly longer walk. 

\-------------------------------------

Nagisa looked around Karma’s living room, just kind of seated on the couch, hoping for any ideas on what he could do as he waited for Karma to call. So far he hadn’t heard anything yet, but he assumed that didn’t necessarily mean anything bad. Judging by his previous experiences of hanging out with Sugino he knew he must have only just arrived at his house. 

Even if he’d been there a bit earlier than usual, his mother was most likely asking for some kind of attention. It was wednesday, meaning she got home from work earlier. She’d probably been waiting on him for a bit, hoping for either a talk or something more. 

Nagisa hoped it would be just a talk. 

Eventually he figures he can’t just sit still and wait.  _ ‘time will take ages to pass.’  _ He had to convince himself to put his phone away for a bit. He was sure he’d notice the ringtone immediately with how alert he was being. There had to be something to do as he was confined to Karma’s house. 

He decides to wander for a bit, but it didn’t take long for him to find Karma’s game consoles in his bedroom. Truthfully, he got a little too enthusiastic seeing Karma had so many games he’d been wanting to play for ages. Some were really violent and his mother wasn’t too big of a fan of that. Nagisa instantly decided he’d play those. 

The problem was that even that got boring after a while. Maybe it was the fact that he had a constant tendency to eye the clock. With every couple of minutes that passed Nagisa got more itsy on just how long his friend was taking.  _ ‘surely he’d be home by now?’  _

Back to wandering around it was. There was enough to see in Karma’s house, it wasn’t all a mess spread throughout the house. There were knick knacks and miscellaneous items everywhere. At some point Nagisa came across these small wooden toys that he couldn’t help but admire, and also think of how cute it was Karma had these. 

Everything in his room seemed to fit Karma’s personality. Sure, there was a lot of clutter, but in a sense it was organised in a decorative manner. It wasn’t hard to imagine Karma sitting behind his desk doing his schoolwork. Nagisa knew he did in fact do a lot of his schoolwork, as much as Karma wanted to hide that. 

He could perfectly imagine Karma bent over, looking at his notes with more concentration he tended to show in class. He’d scrunch his nose, and portray a tiny smirk when he got an answer correct. He looked like a proud little kid, all cute and smiling as if his parents just bragged about him. 

Not that Karma really knew that feeling. His parents weren’t really present. But, he could still see Karma’s hard work. And even if he wasn’t, he could imagine Karma laying in his bed, holding his phone and texting teasingly comments to Nagisa. With any new joke he could think of he rewarded himself with a wave of pride. 

He knew that he looked exactly like Karma right now. He could sit behind that desk, or lay on his bed and do whatever he knew Karma would. It wasn’t the same though. There was only one real Akabane Karma. Nagisa could never imitate the behaviour that was just natural to Karma. He probably didn’t even notice he did those things. 

Nagisa was starting to wonder why  _ he _ noticed it so well. 

Out of nowhere he felt guilt wash over him. He’d been so strict on Karma about the whole pretending thing, and he felt he couldn’t just blame it on the nature of their friendship. It felt wrong to assume this was all some communication thing. 

He had such a clear image in his head of everything Karma did, yet he couldn’t even begin to understand half of his thought process. Sometimes, Nagisa would say something and Karma would react… off? There was always a distance. 

The moment assassination came into their lives, things took another turn. That distance from earlier started to feel not like the empty space between them it had been before, but an actual feeling. Anytime Nagisa actively participated in assassination, a feeling came from Karma, and it would fill the space between them, perhaps even increase it. 

It wasn’t like Karma hated assassination, he liked violence, so that’d be weird. If anything, Karma was more than enthusiastic to be able to kill their teacher. He really reacted to Nagisa being involved. There was no way it was jealousy, it wasn’t like Nagisa could ever beat Karma in killing korosensei, Karma was too badass for that. 

Nagisa grabbed Karma’s phone, filling in his own birthday, almost feeling it to be natural now. He wonders why Karma hasn’t messaged or called him yet. Was he okay? He decides to shoot him a text 

“hey, you okay to call now?” 

He never gets an answer. 

\--------------------------------

A shiver runs past Nagisa’s spine as he tried to figure out where on earth he was. What he noticed of his surroundings was a vast blackness around him, seemingly endless. The only thing not swallowed by the dark was below, and even that wasn’t much, he could only see a few meters ahead of paved floor underneath him. It resembled an asphalt street. 

The dark gave him a really bad feeling. It wasn’t exactly fear, not yet, at least. It was borderline getting to that but at that moment it remained dread. There was nothing to fear in sight, yet it felt like there would be something soon. 

All of a sudden he felt something speed past him, a car. He managed to jump to the side, the shock accelerating the pace of his breath as he contemplated how close he had gotten to being hit. He wasn’t usually someone to send mean glares at strangers but he felt a near death experience was a new level of rude for people he encountered. 

The moment he turned around to look in the direction the car went to he started to feel light headed. Before he could properly complain, however, he opened his eyes again to see the slightly different surroundings. 

In reality, it hadn’t changed that much, but it did feel like that to Nagisa. In front of him was now a mirror. Nothing fancy, just a plain wooden mirror that… looked a speciously big amount like the one he’d seen in Karma’s house. 

Looking in the mirror he saw something that would have scared him a little a few days prior, but didn’t anymore. He saw Karma’s face staring back at him. Somehow that wasn’t surprising anymore after having spent 2 days in his body already. 

Something was confusing about it though. It did mirror his movement, as he raised his hand so did Karma, as he moved his fingers so did Karma. But his face, his expression, didn’t follow Nagisa’s. 

Karma looked… scared. Perhaps the best word for it was panicked. His eyes were wide in what Nagisa could only justify as shock, and his mouth open slightly as if he’d put all the tension in his face to his eyes and everything else just fell. 

He didn’t look him in the eyes, instead he looked a little downwards. Nagisa followed his gaze, finding out it ended on his chest. Something about that felt shameful, as if he was about to make another ‘girl’ joke. His face didn’t really look as if he were in a teasing mood though. 

All of a sudden there’s noises all around him. He heard a slithering sound, most likely Korosensei’s tentacles. More cars, something hitting the break. the worst thing was the tortured scream. His stomach fell as he heard it, telling him he knew who it was, but his brain didn’t give him any further information. 

He felt his body cramp in fear, it having finally reached him. Something made him want to curl up into a ball but he withheld himself from doing so. He tried to touch the mirror but no matter how close his hand moved to the reflective surface, no matter how much he leant forward, a few inches of distance remained between the tips of his fingers and the mirror. 

_ ‘ah, I’m dreaming’  _ A thought came to his mind, That realisation broke the illusion, making him grasp through the mirror all of a sudden. The weight of his own body leaning forward dragged him as he fell through. He felt his body spasm as he felt himself fall down. 

With confusion he grabbed around himself, still feeling he’d just fallen over. He had gotten hold of some covers and judging by the familiar feeling, they were his own. 

“It  _ was _ a dream” He told himself out loud, to reassure himself what had just happened wasn’t real. He managed to sit up and scrunched up his nose in disgust. He’d been sweating like crazy, apparently. 

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness around him. Within a few seconds he really did confirm he was in his own room.  _ in his own body then too.  _ This meant Karma had in fact arrived home, he just never called him. 

In the end he decided he needed some more sleep again. He tried to lay down again, hoping the moment he closes his eyes he won’t have another dream. He does think about his dream, or rather, nightmare, for a bit. Even for a nightmare, he had to admit the overall experience was odd. 

Especially considering he didn’t recall any other time he remembered his dream. 

\--------------------------------

Nagisa felt very shitty on his way to school. Not only was he tired from his restless night, he’d also finally gotten a message from Karma. Said message wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped to hear from his friend, however. 

He had hoped for a reason he hadn’t called, something about his mother or no connection. Literally any reason would have been fine. If not a reason, he wanted an apology. Karma would just have to not ignore the topic and things would be fine. 

Karma  _ did _ ignore the topic, apparently. 

The only text Nagisa’s gotten from his friend was to say he wouldn’t be walking to school with him, which meant on top of being tired and confused (and perhaps even a little angry) about the lack of calling, he also couldn’t discuss his dream with him. 

But then again, should he? Perhaps it was a little creepy to tell one of your best friends about how you had a dream about him. Nagisa didn’t want to send any wrong messages to Karma. Things would end up being way awkward if it looked like he had a crush on him or something like that. 

He wondered why Karma couldn’t walk with him throughout the entirety of first period. At first he thought maybe Karma was a little over socializing, he knew Karma had a limit to his social capabilities. However, Karma didn’t show for the first two periods, or the third for that matter. Actually, he didn’t show up all day. 

Nagisa wasn’t sure why but it did upset him a little. He really did want to discuss things with Karma, even if he was doubting about mentioning he was in his dream. Something inside him wanted to just talk and hang with Karma. After all, he really did like being around him, the past few days proved that to him. Being around Karma felt a lot better than, well, him being gone like that day in class. 

In the end he’d been thinking so much about Karma, he hadn’t exactly been paying attention to Korosensei’s class until he suddenly got asked a question. 

“Nagisa, could you give an example of disruptions such as these?” Korosensei asked him, waking up the poor boy from his distracting thoughts just as he started on the topic of how important Karma was to him. He was slightly panicked, not knowing what the lesson was about. The blackboard told him something about nonlinear systems and changes in a process. 

He did recognize it, the words were close to a description he’d heard in one of his favourite action movies his dad had recommended to him. He didn’t usually watch his dad’s recommendations, because they were usually a little boring or had the same plot as the last movie he sent, but this particular one had been a success and he somewhat celebrated he’d seen it now. 

“Is it like- uh, like time travel?” He tried. “you change the past and thereby change the present, or, also the future I guess?” This was a physics topic, and his answer wasn’t very scientifically proven to be possible, but he figured it was enough for an example. 

His teacher’s head turned orange and displayed a circle on it, clarifying for Nagisa that he was correct. “Time is indeed a good example, perhaps even the most common one.” He turned to the blackboard to draw something out. 

“A more abstract explanation is that of the pendulum theory. A small change in the course of a pendulum, such as a different starting point, greatly affects how the ending pattern of the pendulum’s swing is.” 

Though he was still a little confused, Nagisa got the gist. The actions of one moment greatly affect what comes next or effect something entirely different. He supposes the time travel movie was like that too. If the protagonist hadn’t interfered with his past self he wouldn’t have caused the changes in his friend’s life, even if his own stayed relatively the same. 

Korosensei announced it was time for a break and Nagisa couldn’t help but let out a sigh. He’d probably need to go ask Kayano for her notes on today’s lessons with how distracted he’d been the entire time. He wanted to ask someone else something first, however. 

He stood up and made his way over to another friend of his, someone he personally thought he didn’t talk enough to, but said person thought things were fine. She was the kind of person who’d have knowledge on his dream related issues. 

“Hey Hazama, can I talk to you for a bit?” He asked the girl who’d just been sitting with her usual friend group, the Terasaka squad. 

Hazama looked up at him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “Sure” was all she said as she got up to talk with Nagisa in private. That was the usual for them, they tended to discuss a pretty serious topic and it would be a little weird, and very awkward, if people listened along. The two of them went to the back of the classroom, no one would really mind them there. 

“So what’s up, is your moth-” She started but Nagisa interrupted her, knowing where she thought this would go. 

“No- no, this is about something else.” He said and he noted her slightly confused expression. She didn’t stop him, however, so he kept going. 

“I just uh- well I had this dream? and I- well, I don’t usually really remember my dreams and I don’t think they’re usually as… weird as this one. I mean I’m guessing I would remember a dream this weird. More like nightmare, really. I just figured you, like- you’d know a little about interpreting this kind of stuff?” 

A curious expression came across Hazama’s face. “Was it a long dream” She asked but all Nagisa could do in response was shrug. The girl took a moment to think about it. 

“Talk to me after school,” She told him. “We might want to sit down for this, if it really is as weird as you say, I assume there’s a lot to discuss. I’m free this afternoon so it’s all fine, my mother is home late from work anyways.” 

Nagisa agreed to meet with her after school. They came to the conclusion they’d go to Hazama’s house and talk there. It wasn’t like Nagisa would be seeing anything of Karma that day, he hadn’t arrived any class before the break and it was only logical to assume he wouldn’t be making an appearance at all anymore. 

He ended up spending his break with Hazama too, reassuring her things were fine at home at the moment and listening to her complaints about how things were going at her place. It was a little depressing to know her mother had gone on another dress rampage, but he was happy she felt she could talk about it with him. 

Class resumed and Korosensei flew back through the window, returning from whatever country he’d decided to spend his break at this time. Judging by the tea he was holding, Nagisa didn’t think he’d gone out of Asia. 

“Right class, I believe we continue on to English class now.” He announced, placing his tea on his desk. Nagisa wondered how drink were processed in the teacher’s body, seeing as he most likely did not have a human digestive system. 

_ ‘Did-did their sensei need to go to the bathroom?’  _

“Sensei, you kind of ended your nonlinear disruption thing a bit sudden, I don’t even know what it is.” Maehara announced and a few people nodded in agreement. 

Nagisa looked at their teacher who seemed a little distressed now. His tentacles were flinging around all over the place and he was acting as if his incomplete explanation was the teacher’s equivalent of a war crime. 

“I’m so sorry class! I’m a horrible teacher I- How could I not even tell you what I was explaining I’m so sorry!” Nagisa figured no one actually cared that much but he appreciated the sentiment of Korosensei’s apology. 

It took a bit before he resumed to his normal composure and rewrote their previous notes all over the blackboard with mach 20 speed, including the pendulum drawing he’d made in response to Nagisa. “A disruption in nonlinear systems creating a change in a later state is like a butterfly flapping his wings and causing a hurricane in another continent,” He resumed on the topic. 

“That’s why it’s called the butterfly effect.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'll post each week or every other week on friday" yikes, had that rythm for like 3 chapters I guess. I'm still going to try to do that but it has just been a hard couple of weeks. I hope y'all still enjoy the chapter. I guess plotwise I'm finally starting to get there.


	6. Avoiding time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa has a little talk about dreams with Hazama as Karma spends his day doing anything BUT talking to Nagisa.

Considering his overall mood and exhaustion after that school day, he was more than happy to fall down slightly dramatic on Hazama’s couch. In response, she rolled her eyes at how expressive he was being. Nagisa assumed she might think he was overreacting. 

A thought came to his mind just then. _Did he need to tell her about the bodyswap thing?_ He felt a little odd making Hazama be the first one to know about his and Karma’s situation. Debating the necessity of this information, he did tell himself he was here for the dream. Just because Karma was in the first dream he ever truly remembered like this at the same time that he was going through a body swap with him, didn’t mean the two were related. 

Probably. 

He registered Hazama asking if he wanted anything to drink and settled with just water. If it could be helped, he didn’t want to be a bother to his friend. She was doing enough for him as it was.

“Look, I’m making tea for myself anyways, I can make some for you.” She sighed, knowing Nagisa well enough to know he was just being polite like usual. With that, Nagisa couldn’t really say no and sent her a warm smile. Not that Hazama was the kind of person to need a warm smile. 

Eventually the two sat on the couch together, Nagisa staring into his cup of tea as he wasn’t sure where to start. He’d definitely need to start. There was no way Hazama could help him if he didn’t say anything. Maybe he should start talking about her again, just out of formality? or, maybe, he should ju-

“Are you going to describe your dream to me or not?” The girl prompted, making Nagisa jump as his thoughts were interrupted so suddenly. He really did need to focus to not drop his tea right then and there. 

“Right, well…” For a moment he just considered a starting point. “I have to start by saying I don’t usually dream, or remember it ...so, this sudden _nightmare_ freaks me out on its own. It started in- uh, this black space I guess?” 

He went past everything that happened, listing everything in chronological order. Hazama didn’t interrupt him, only nodding a few times and letting out an occasional “interesting” or “that’s specific”. By the time he was done telling his story, she seemed deep in thought. 

“Have you ever seen Karma look the way he did in your dream?” She asked him as she flipped through a book she’d brought from her room earlier. He wasn’t really surprised she had books on this topic… or any other spiritual or cult-like things. “I mean, you said he looked… scared? I have a hard time imagining Karma showing his fear in his face so obvious.” 

Nagisa shook his head. “I’ve seen him shocked at best, I think” No memory of Karma came to him where he looked as distressed as he had in his dream. “And I think he looked panicked, kind of scared and helpless. I mean he didn’t _do_ anything.” 

Hazama seemed to process that information before flipping through her book again, using her left index finger to keep a page marked. Out of curiousity Nagisa tried to look over her hands, to see what kind of information this book had. His friend was flipping past pages a bit too fast for him to really see anything, however. 

“Let’s start simple,” She went back to the page she’d been holding and turned the book so he could see the page as well. “Mirrors, usually about self reflection, pretty straight forward. I mean you’re looking in a mirror, usually to see yourself or whatever. 

Seeing someone _else_ in the reflection usually means you either changed your behaviour or should. Doesn’t say so in this book but, I know some tend to say the other person might have control over you, or, at the very least that you feel like it. But falling through it… Your subconscious is telling you to talk to this person.” 

Well, yes, Nagisa did want to talk to Karma. Karma didn’t seem to share that sentiment, seeing as he still refused to send him any text after the 5 new ones Nagisa had send since that morning. It wasn’t his subconscious mind, or whatever, telling him to talk to Karma, he generally wanted to. 

“Right so, what about the other stuff? The street and car and… noises?” Nagisa asked her. 

There was a silence as she flipped to go to another page she’d decided to hold. Once again she turned it to him and the moment Nagisa read the title of the page he let out a cynical snort. 

“Precognition dreams, really?” He wasn’t impressed by the idea. 

It wasn’t like Nagisa was specifically a non-believer, but he was a sceptic at the very least. Even if people could predict the future, Nagisa would never assume _he_ was someone who would be able to do something special like that. There was no way Nagisa was any form of psychic. He was good at reading people at best, even if that skill was limited with some people confusing him. 

At the very least he could get anyone’s wavelength. It was nothing new to him to sense the moments of weakness or high attention spans in people. He looked at Hazama in front of him. Judging by her wavelength, she wasn’t impressed by his reaction. 

“Anyone can have dreams like this,” She shrugged, positioning the book normally to her lap again. Her eyes scanned over the page as she talked to him. “There’s enough clues for it, if you’re willing to get over yourself and listen.” 

Nagisa let out a sigh, weighing out his options here. Something was better than nothing, even if that something was him predicting the future. “Humour me.” 

And she did just that. The moment she started explaining about dream spaces he’d looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Of course, he didn’t think it was entirely crazy, there was theory behind everything. The idea was, however, that his “dark space”, as she’d call it, was a sign of future or whatever. 

“but that’s just regular nightmare stuff, isn’t it?” He asked, interrupting his friend in the middle of her talk. She didn’t seem to pleased about being disrupted, but she’d let him go at it. “I mean, you’re not telling me you think any nightmare with this endless… _void_ predicts the future. There’s thousands of people who are scared of darkness and voids like that.” 

The other girl closed her book, realising Nagisa wasn’t about to believe her just because she based herself on _one_ book, as pretty as the cover of that book had been. “Right, how are the other elements of nightmares then, you weren’t even scared through most of it, nothing that appeared seemed to be a fear of yours, you didn’t even _run._ The moment you told me you had this dream you didn’t even immediately call it a nightmare. I think you’d know when you had a nightmare, Nagisa.” 

So, perhaps she was a little right. That didn’t convince Nagisa he had seen the future, however. 

“Well, what did I predict then? I’m going to see a car speed past and then hear a scream and Korosensei?” He focused hard on recalling what happened in his dream. “What, is Korosensei going to be in a car crash, I’m pretty sure he’s fast enough to move out of the way of a mere _car_.” He didn’t mean to sound dismissing of her thoughts, but there was no coherent happening in his dream that he thought could potentially become true. 

“I don’t know, it’s your dream.” Hazama rolled her eyes once more. She took some time to drink from her tea, Nagisa following that idea because he figured it’d get cold otherwise. “But judging by the latter part, it seems you need to go talk to Karma to figure this one out.” 

That’d mean he’d need to get ahold of Karma first. 

\--------------

If Karma could change anything about the situation he was currently in, he’d force himself to be angry. It annoyed him to death that he couldn’t get himself to just rage at Nagisa. Sure, he was disappointed in him but if he were to be confronted with Nagisa at that exact moment, he wouldn’t fight him like he would with most people. 

It wasn’t exactly that he didn’t think people talked about him behind his back, that was bound to happen with a reputation like his. He felt like Nagisa was the kind of person who wouldn’t care about that, he had his own opinion rather than what people told him about him. It always seemed like Nagisa saw him as someone good and Karma liked that. 

To put it simply, he didn’t want Nagisa to leave him behind. A part of him didn’t want this body swap to end any time soon. He felt the moment it was gone, so would Nagisa. 

Realistically speaking, he knew things weren’t that simple. Nagisa wouldn’t leave him the first opportunity he had. If anything the other boy had seemed content the two of them were hanging out again since Karma showed up in 3E, as strained as their relationship was. But then, if Nagisa spoke about him so badly, only time could tell when he realised he didn’t _have_ to be friends with him. 

_‘please don’t let that happen, I don't want that to happen.’_

His moment of sulking was interrupted by the sound of his phone buzzing once more. It was the 7th text he’d received from Nagisa that day. Perhaps not answering wasn’t the best tactic. On the other hand, he didn’t have much to say to him either. 

He pocketed his phone again, returning to his very interesting day of people watching. Sure, the idea of skipping came natural to him, but he wasn’t really sure what to do with himself. After walking around Kunugigaoka a bit he’d ended up sitting on a relatively low wall, enjoying his view of the street. 

Relatively speaking, the street had enough elements to make it interesting. The amount of angry customers leaving what he knew to be the shittiest corner store in town amused him dearly. On top of that there was a park not too far away and Karma did not mind seeing people walk by with their dogs, as much as he prefered cats. There was also an elementary school, which had just ended, so he could see kids running around playing games or bothering their parents. 

That bothered him. The kids and their parents. Somehow most children seemed annoyed their parents didn’t give them what they wanted but the only thing Karma saw was just how lucky they were. He’d had to have walked home alone every day, most days arriving to an empty house. 

His train of thought was once again interrupted by the sound of his phone, this time a call rather than another text. Unsurprisingly, it was still Nagisa. He clicked it away and resumed to looking around. 

Apparently there was no time for that, because Nagisa called him _again._ This was a lot, it wasn’t like he hadn’t skipped school before. Perhaps Nagisa truly did need to speak to him. He decided it was worth a sending a text, before he could call again. 

Karma: anything wrong? 

It didn’t take long for him to get a reply. 

Nagisa: You’re not answering me. 

Nagisa: I need to talk to you. 

Karma read over the messages a few times. Well… that didn’t tell him anything. Of course Nagisa had to talk to him, he wouldn’t call otherwise. What Karma had been hoping for were some specifics, or, maybe, an explanation of urgency. 

He figured he couldn’t just say nothing again. Most likely, Nagisa would just keep calling him until he answered again. Karma was in no mood to call in that moment. 

Karma: about what? kind of busy. 

Nagisa: Something weird happened. Also, we never called yesterday. 

Right, Karma hoped Nagisa wouldn’t bring that up again. He sent one more text, giving some excuse about having business to take care of right now. He kept it as vague as possible, hoping Nagisa wouldn’t ask any questions. Then he dropped his hand, feeling like putting his phone in his pocket again was too much effort. 

Finally, he returned his attention to the street. Most children and parents had left by now so it was just the casual walking of people using this street on their daily routes home, not necessarily caring about the shops or other locations present in the street. 

Karma’s eyes followed a couple walking hand in hand. They smiled at each other, One girl laughing about whatever the other had told her. It looked sappy, romantic, and to Karma, a little disgusting. He even felt his face scrunch up a little. He’d rather watch anything else at that moment, so he decided to move his gaze to some blue haired guy walking behind them.

Wait, blue hair? _shit_ that was Nagisa walking. 

Karma nearly fell off the wall as he saw his friend walking on the opposite side of the street from where Karma was. The other boy seemed pretty focused on typing on his phone and, judging by the buzzing of Karma’s phone, he had an idea on who he was texting. 

As he regained his balance he noticed some kids laughing at him from down on the pavement. Karma sent them a mean glare but they didn’t particularly stop their fussing over Karma. _‘Kids, what a bother’_

Even more of a bother was the noise they were making, attracting the attention from most people in the street, seeing as it had been relatively quiet before. Karma saw most people look away again after having identified the noise, but one pair of narrow blue eyes were looking at him directly. 

Well, that was fucking ruined then. 

That’s how he’d ended up leaning against that same wall, Nagisa beside him, still confused on the whole situation. He was a little more than confused, he seemed annoyed. Then again, Karma did just try to avoid him and tell him he was very busy, only to be found sitting on a random wall in the middle of nowhere. 

“So, you just skipped?” Nagisa broke the silence they’d been having for a bit. On the one hand Karma was glad he did, their silence made him a little awkward, knowing there was some stuff to be said. But then again, he also didn’t like being confronted on this. “For what?” 

Karma let out a little laugh, trying to act like his usual self. He figured he’d try to present his usual smugness. “Well, Nagisa, one doesn’t always skip for anything specific.” He had his usual smirk-like smile plastered on his face. 

Annoyingly, the other didn’t react much to that. Instead, he kept a close eye on Karma and it felt a little to Karma like he was being examined. seeing as this was Nagisa he was talking about, he definitely was. 

He felt he needed to be the one to break the silence. “I needed a break.” He simply admitted, not wishing to explain that very much further. If he was _ever_ going to confront Nagisa on what he’d heard from Sugino and Kayano, he’d at least want some time to think about his words. This one day of skipping class had not been enough time. 

His own feelings were definitely making this more complicated. In any other situation his first instinct would be to punch the person who’d done him wrong or hurt him, but with Nagisa that was different. He actually loved Nagisa, as… sappy as that sounded. He couldn’t imagine ever finding anyone whose company he liked as much or who could even match how pretty Nagisa was. 

And he was, pretty. Extremely so. With how shy and insecure Nagisa tended to be about his physique, Karma always felt plagued by a voice in his head that told him he should show the other the way he saw him. He loved everything, from Nagisa’s soft hair and the way the colour complemented his skin, to the way Nagisa’s curves made him look so nice to hold. 

And his eyes, they were so bright and full of wonder. Anytime Karma saw Nagisa walk into a room he noticed how he’d scan the place, somehow having learnt to try and gather information unconsciously. And whenever Nagisa looked confused, his eyes would squint a little, as if that were to help him figure out what was going on with whatever he was having issues with. To Karma, it was such a cute little gesture and, as hard as it was to read Nagisa sometimes, it was those small moments of pure innocence where he couldn’t help but admire the other boy. 

That thought didn’t matter, however, because that same boy he was praising in his mind was still looking at him with a look that put a bitter taste in Karma’s mouth. 

“I _really_ needed to talk to you” Karma felt his heart sting because of the disappointed, maybe even hopeless, look Nagisa gave him. “And I don’t mean just yesterday, even if it would’ve been nice of you to keep to what we mutually agreed to do, I mean I needed you today and you _lied_ to me about being busy. Unless that wall is the emperor’s throne you just inherited or something.” 

Karma had no idea where that analogy came from, but he forced himself not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. He supposed Nagisa was actually a little upset, which could be a sign he cared about Karma. 

But then, if he cared so much why would he talk like that about him, coming somewhat close to leavi- 

He didn’t want to think about that. 

“I have my reasons,” He remembered his conversation with Sugino very vividly. If anything, he felt he had the right to be upset with Nagisa. Karma had to follow all these expectations but Nagisa gets to just- just… Just do whatever. “Plus, if it’s really important you can still talk to me now.” 

All Nagisa did as a reaction was shake his head. It seemed there wasn’t going to be much conversation between the two. 

“I should probably get home soon, my mother is waiting.” He announced after neither of them attempted to start any type of conversation anymore. 

Karma nodded, realising it was pretty late. He’d need to get to making dinner for himself soon too. “Why are you out anyways? school ended a while ago and- well, isn’t this street a detour for you?” He asked. After all, he had picked this side of town knowing Nagisa would definitely not be there. 

Nagisa mumbled something about hanging at Hazama’s place and, as much as Karma wanted to know _why_ , he could easily see Nagisa was in no mood to discuss this with him. 

“Right, see you, or myself I guess, tomorrow?” He offered, but he didn’t get much of a reaction. Nagisa just walked away from him. 

\-----------------------------

Nagisa did not have much energy to focus on the conversation he and his mother were having during dinner. As a result it had been mostly her doing the talking. It wasn’t like Nagisa was really aware what she had been talking about anymore at that point, so by the time she asked him a question he was a bit too stunned to answer.

“I’m asking you if that’s okay.” His mother repeated, but unfortunately for Nagisa, not enough. He really had no idea what this was about and judging by his mother’s face she noticed. He didn’t need to check her wavelength for that. 

“Were you even listening, Nagisa?” She sounded quite offended. Her mood was definitely going down but Nagisa wasn’t sure what to do about it. 

“I-I uh, I’m sorry it’s just been a long day at school, and studying afterwards of course,” he lied. It wasn’t really an issue, he knew how to act to make it believable for his mother. “Just… processing. I mean I- yeah it’s okay.” 

She seemed pleased enough knowing he agreed to whatever it is she’d proposed earlier. Whatever it was, he’d deal with the consequences later. For now his own mind was enough of an issue. 

When he laid down in bed that night, he just couldn’t stop _thinking._ The whole situation with Karma was bothering him, perhaps a little more than it should. Karma was Karma, he did things just- Just because. Perhaps he just needed another day of skipping school, Nagisa supposed he’d kind of been forcing him to stay entire days when he wasn’t really used to that. 

He probably hadn’t even skipped because of Nagisa, even though Nagisa very much felt that to be the case. He didn’t want it to be. 

Uncertainty came over him. _‘Why did he care so much about why Karma did his thing.’_ They were just friends, friends who hadn’t even hung out in over a year before they got into their third year. 

Friends who… would make each other feel like shit sometimes. 

He wasn’t an idiot to Sugino and Kayano’s advice. As his friend they meant only the best. Whenever he and Karma got somewhat comfortable in their friendship, either Karma would become distant for a bit or he’d start teasing. In any other situation he’d pick the teasing over the distance, but it really was a sensitive topic. 

Perhaps Karma just didn’t get it. It wasn't like he’d actually ever properly explained it to him. It wasn’t like he wanted to either. The whole thing would make Karma uncomfortable probably, he knew enough about his mother because of this whole body swap.

Oh god, the body swap. He’d most likely be Karma again tomorrow. He couldn’t say he was looking forward to _that_ mess again. 

A smile crept on Nagisa’s face as he imagined waking up in Karma’s room. He kind of wished he could spend time there on different circumstances, and, by choice, in his own body. His house truly did feel cozy, but it would feel even better when Karma was in it too. 

He felt something in his chest, something he couldn’t exactly identify. The closest memory to the feeling had been the time he’d gone on a small trip with his mother when he was pretty young. She’d described it as home sickness to him. She’d said Nagisa’s heart had a place it’d rather be, a place he loved. 

He didn’t love Karma’s home, not really. As lovely as he thought the place was. _Love_ was a pretty big word after all. What else could he miss so much? Class? he’d be there tomorrow, there was no worry there. His dad? No particular feeling arose. His friends? He felt something there but it wasn’t related to his thoughts earlier. The only thing he’d thought about earlier was Karma. 

Again, he sensed the ache in his chest. It felt as if his heart tried to move around in his rib cage, as if it didn’t have enough space. Maybe- Maybe he felt something for Karma? That wasn’t weird… right? Friends can feel things for each other. 

It wasn’t like he was homesick for Karma, Karma wasn’t home or anything close to that. Something his heart missed? More like, something his heart _admired_. 

Yes, Nagisa definitely admired Karma. He was cool and smart and overall seemed to do what he wanted. And Nagisa… whenever he was around him, he felt himself admire him. That must be what was wrong. He needed time with Karma, admire him up close and the moment Karma disappointed him by going off the radar like that, he missed it. 

That was enough for Nagisa to stop his staring contest with the ceiling. He closed his eyes and turned to his side, pulling his covers further over him. It wasn’t particularly cold, but it sure was more comfortable. 

His mind drifted for a moment, feeling that fatigue from earlier catching up to him now. Everything would be fine tomorrow. He’d be rested, sadly not in his own body, and he’d be able to talk to Karma like he always would. 

\--------------------------------

He wasn’t even surprised about the bodily changes, when he woke up that morning. It was only his third day in Karma’s body, but it definitely did get easier after getting used to it a little. At least he knew when to duck for doorposts now. 

He was sure Karma appreciated not returning to his body with about 3 new bumps added every day. 

The start of his day was also easily improved by the fact he hadn’t had another dream, or at least not one that he remembered. Whatever event he may or may not have predicted, it apparently was not pressing enough for him to have to dream about it again. 

Overall he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulder by the time he’d arrived at school. Karma had told him he wouldn’t be walking with him, but he did ensure him he would in fact be coming. Nagisa trusted he wouldn’t ruin Nagisa’s near-perfect presence in class. Nagisa wouldn’t miss a day of class, unless the situation was absolutely dire enough. 

Okay, well, He’d skipped once in his life. It had been ages ago, in first year even. It was a bit comical now, realising it was with Karma. He sure did make an appearance quite often in his life. 

Talking about Karma, he had in fact kept his promise, showing well on time for class. Nagisa greeted him with a smile, toning down his enthusiasm a little to fit the way Karma would do it normally. He got a casual smile and wave back, one that was a much better representation of how Karma did it. But then again, that actually was Karma. 

Class started soon enough and the day moved by like a flash. He didn’t have to do much socializing as Karma. Apart from making a few comments here and there, Karma kept relatively to himself when he was pulled into a conversation. So Nagisa acted just like that, remembering everything he’d ever observed Karma doing in the time he’d spent with full interest on the red head. 

It was a little odd that Karma wasn’t doing as much while in his body. Sure, he had the occasional conversation with the people around him, but he wasn’t the initiator of many of his interactions. Nagisa figured Karma was just a little tired, or maybe still a bit awkward about how things went down the day before. He made a mental note to go talk to him after class. 

He did everything he could to send smiles to his own body as much as possible, hoping it would cheer up the boy in it a little. He’d do whatever he could to make sure Karma would be in the same good mood he’d started to feel that day. 

\-----------------------------

Karma’s mood was absolute shit. 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t expected to wake up in Nagisa’s body, but he didn’t exactly look forward to a day of being Nagisa either. He really wished he could avoid Sugino and Kayano at the very least, he wasn’t entirely over the whole talk they’d had. 

The true reason for his bad mood, was both the lingering of his feelings from the day before combined with his restless sleep and having to deal with Nagisa’s apparently good mood. The other boy had been smiling at him like an idiot all day. Something about it didn’t feel right. 

Just yesterday, the boy had been annoyed with him. Surely he didn’t get over it that fast. Karma knew he should probably be happy about that, but it was a little hard. He wasn’t too sure what to trust anymore. 

Eventually their break arrived and Nagisa, being Karma, pulled him along to sit and eat together. Whatever it was Nagisa had wanted to discuss the day before, it seems he hadn’t really let go of it yet. Perhaps it really was that important to discuss, judging by how eager he was being. 

“Right so, I’m sorry about my mood yesterday.” Nagisa explained, genuinely looking like he was apologizing. He probably actually was. Nagisa would say sorry for existing, if prompted. “We can just… Ignore that. I kind of need to discuss this dream with you.” 

And so he did. Nagisa told him all about the weird dream he’d been having, involving a void, a car and… him, apparently. Something inside of Karma wanted to feel special there, Nagisa had kind of dreamed about him. Or at least he’d appeared in his dream. That was a little bit of a concerning fact after Nagisa explained what he and Hazama had talked about after school the day before. 

“You predicted the future?” Karma did his best to hold back a laugh. He looked around to make sure no one else was listening in, as funny as that would be, because they’d think he would have said it. This body swap wasn’t making things easy. 

“I don’t know, Hazama seems to think so.” Nagisa sighed in reply. 

Karma took a moment to consider the possibility. Prophetic dreams weren’t that weird of an idea to him, what was weird was that Nagisa’s didn’t make sense. It felt a little too random to him. 

“I mean, we’re experiencing a body swap, is predicting the future in your dreams the weirdest thing to happen?” He half joked, but it was also kind of his reasoning. He saw Nagisa smile a little in response and suddenly decided he didn’t need to talk about what had happened before, at least not right now. “Break’s almost over, we can go to my place after school and discuss some more?” 

A smile crept on Nagisa’s face and he nodded. “You have to text my mother about it, just say I’m going studying or whatever.” Instead he got his phone pushed into his hand by Karma, solving the problem a little easier. 

“No one can sound like Nagisa like the real Nagisa.” Karma lightly punched his shoulder. It was a little weak, but that’s what it was like being in Nagisa’s body. 

Eventually they had to end their conversation and return to their seats, seeing as class would be starting again pretty soon. Karma still didn’t feel extremely well, but he hoped that acting normal with Nagisa would improve the situation. Confronting Nagisa seemed like a scary thing to do. 

He wasn’t about to start talking about his emotions with the other boy, not after years of avoiding that. That conversation would probably only make things harder for the two of them, anyways. He’d just meet with Nagisa after school and pray it went well. 

Who knows, perhaps he could impress Nagisa in some way so that he’d never feel like talking bad about Karma again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day earlier because I have to work again tomorrow and WILL forget. we're going back to shenanigans next chapter onwards, but plot will remain too. For now, have two idiots avoiding their problems and not communicating :)  
> Do I have anything else to say? uuuuh... thank you for all the kudos and all the comments! I appreciate all of it and it really helps stay motivated to write anything. After chapter 4 I told myself I'd take a hiatus but I guess we're still here soooo thank yourself for that one! 
> 
> Till next time!


	7. Cuddle Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> talking about your feelings may be hard, but cozy time at Karma's place might be enough.

Though Nagisa would be going to Karma’s place anyway that day, seeing as he was in fact in his body and couldn’t exactly show up to the Shiota residence looking like his friend, it definitely felt different now that Karma was there with him too. Truth be told, Nagisa thought this felt  _ better. _ At the very least it felt like he wasn’t invading Karma’s house anymore. 

He wasn’t a complete idiot, he knew he wasn’t, really. It just wasn’t exactly natural to be in someone’s house without them. And, as much as Nagisa had imagined Karma sitting in his house in his own body the entire time, he could still see Karma as he saw his own small body navigate through the house. Something about his posture and attitude and overall aura just spoke ‘Karma’. 

He couldn’t say he didn’t like it. 

It seemed neither of them were really sure what to talk about. At first it was just a bit silent as they hung out in Karma’s bedroom, with Karma spending some time scrolling through his phone and occasionally sending and awkward smile in Nagisa’s direction. 

Nagisa couldn’t hold that out much longer and decided he needed to start a conversation,  _ any _ conversation. The silence was slowly killing him from the inside, as if he was being eaten by the utter uncomfortability of the situation. 

“So… weather’s been nice” He started, knowing perhaps the weather wasn’t the most creative topic but also knowing it was better than nothing. “It’s still quite hot but, enjoyable I guess?” 

Apparently Karma’s only reaction was to nod in agreement. He quite literally said nothing else. 

With that Nagisa supposed he needed a different topic. It wasn’t like he really had any more creativity left though, his brain really only thought about the weather. Which was nice, by the way, like he said. 

He looked around the room, desperately hoping to find something else to talk about. sure, he could mention the souvenirs laying around, but chances were that would bring up Karma’s parents and he wasn’t really up for that talk. 

Truth was, all he saw was an unorganized mess, though Karma liked to call it organized  _ to him.  _ Nagisa secretly hoped he was kidding, this mess could not represent the right headspace for studying. 

“Clean your room” He said, without really thinking about it. 

Karma looked up at him, his face unreadable but Nagisa assumed he was confused. “Sure” His friend answered, before returning to scrolling through his phone. To Nagisa that was a sign this wasn’t going to go anywhere. 

Apparently he judged too soon because Karma did start talking a little. “I don’t like it neat and straight, feels fake” He commented. 

Nagisa raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s more convenient with small rooms,” He explained, a little awkward seeing as their conversation somehow ended up being about cleaning rooms. “and my mom complains if I don’t clean it up.” 

“I see,” it didn’t seem like Karma was really that interested. “well, I don’t really like cleaning my room if I can live in it. no one to comment on it.” God, this really was the weirdest, most awkward hang out. 

Their talk continued a little like that, if not more awkward. Whenever either of them had nothing left to say some new useless topic was brought up. both of them didn’t enjoy it and eventually Karma was the one to break the uncomfortable mood by suggesting they play a game or something. 

They end up sitting on Karma’s bed after Nagisa  _ happily _ obliged to the idea of gaming. Both of them faced the screen, and though they would usually definitely be more competitive about this, especially Karma, both of them remained silence once more. It was still a little weird, but Nagisa could ignore the painfully weird feeling in the air by directing all his concentration to the game they were playing. 

Another round ended, the screen displaying player two won this round. Nagisa wants to feel proud about winning the most rounds but he feels the bed bounce a little as something next to him falls down on the bed. 

When he looks to the side he sees his own body staring intensely at the ceiling. He is a little confused at the sudden action, but also entranced by the way his eyes still seem focused as they stare up. 

He looked out of place. Perhaps it was the fact that he portrayed Nagisa’s small physique and the light blue hair was spread across the bed sheets that usually matched a bright red. The look in his eyes were something Nagisa didn’t naturally portray and the exact angle at which his mouth was left open just read ‘Karma’ to him. Nagisa was staring at his own body, and it did not fit its surroundings, yet the person in it did. 

With more careful movements he ended up joining him. He laid down delicately, as if the bed could break from any more sudden movement, and joined the staring contest with the ceiling. 

There was absolutely nothing special about the ceiling. It’s white, plain, and the most interesting thing about it is the ceiling lamp in the middle of it. However, even that ceiling lamp is kind of plain, and that hadn’t been what his friend was looking at. He probably hadn’t even been looking at anything in particular.

Something was definitely bothering him, but Nagisa had no idea if he had the right to ask him about it. 

However, he does end up asking, simply turning his head to him as he keeps laying down. “Something up?” His voice kept soft, as to not startle him. 

His only reaction was to let out a sigh, which was not much of an answer for Nagisa. 

It takes only a few minutes of silence until he does start talking. His voice sounds low as he keeps his gaze fixed on the ceiling, seemingly not wishing to look Nagisa in the eye.  _ ‘it’s probably weird talking to your own body, especially about serious stuff.’ _

“Sometimes, I wonder what I’m doing” Karma admits, much to Nagisa’s surprise. This wasn’t exactly something Nagisa could trace back to find out where it came from, after all they’d been fine just minutes ago. 

“Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a religious crisis or anything. But, this body swap has to mean  _ something. _ Something drastic like this doesn’t just happen out of nowhere, I can’t believe that. But since it happened I feel like all it did is make me pretend to be someone I’m not.” 

Something told Nagisa he didn’t mean pretending to be him. Acting like another person was something different than the apparent identity crisis his friend felt. He didn’t interrupt him to agree, however, just let him talk and get his feelings out. 

He wasn’t used to hearing about Karma’s feelings. 

“With everything going on I just think about stupid stuff, don’t mind me I-” his sentence ended suddenly and Nagisa saw his chest rise as he took a deep breath to prepare him for what he was going to say next. He turned his head to Nagisa and Nagisa recognized a look in his friend’s eyes he wasn’t very used to. “Do you think this is the worst thing to happen?” 

Somehow, this seemed to Nagisa like the one question he was not prepared for.  _ ‘was this the worst thing that could happen?’ _ Yes, a body swap sucks, it’s inconvenient at the very least. But, they also had to deal with a teacher that was going to blow up the earth if they didn’t kill him. 

The thought process made Nagisa’s head spin a little. He hadn’t even realized how messed up everything that was happening actually was. Not a day went by where he didn’t think about murdering his teacher, and now he also spent days thinking how to ensure no one found out he was in  _ another body.  _ On top of that he had to keep his mother even more calm than usual, so any slip ups on Karma’s end wouldn’t result in anything disastrous. 

He wanted to answer Karma. It really did seem like everything was so bad, but Nagisa wasn’t exactly unhappy. 

“I don’t think this is the worst situation,” He finally managed to say. “Things may not be… optimal… right now, but if I had to switch bodies with anyone during all of this, I’m kind of glad it’s with you.” 

He portrayed a smile on his face, hoping he could ease Karma’s nerves a little. His concern did show, and Nagisa somehow couldn't stand seeing Akabane Karma of all people so tense. Nagisa felt he looked tortured by his own thoughts, whatever those may be. 

“Can I… give you a hug?” Nagisa was startled by the sudden question breaking the lasting silence he’d barely noted. Karma looked a little unsure as he asked, as if he wasn’t sure what he was asking was even okay to ask. 

Honestly, Nagisa wasn’t really sure why he wanted too. It wasn’t like they were usually the huggish kind of people. He couldn’t remember when he’d ever really hugged Karma before, other than the occasional arm around the shoulder. 

He nodded carefully, not a single bone in his body really wanting to deny his request. 

Still laying down, Karma threw an arm around Nagisa. Nagisa awkwardly tried to move into the embrace but their laying down position made it a little weird. If they continued to try and make this work, they’d end up spooning. 

“Uhm, Karma…” He spoke up, lightly pushing Karma’s arm from his weight. “This is a little weirdly positioned.” 

Karma looked down to scan the, in fact a little weird, arrangement of their bodies. “Maybe we should sit up” He nodded. 

And thus they ended up leaning against the headboard, Nagisa, in Karma’s body, extending his arm over the other’s shoulder to hold him close, his other hand left on his lap. Karma, who was stuck in the smaller body, leaning his head on the other’s chest. Both were silently enduring the moment, very aware how awkward it was hugging their own body. 

Instinctively Karma had tried to put his arm around Nagisa first, as he was usually the taller person more qualified for that. The key word is  _ usually.  _

Nagisa couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy being what felt like the dominant person in a hug to him. if only it wasn’t for the fact that he was hugging… himself, sort of. 

All he could feel was his own heartbeat going perhaps a little wilder than he meant to. The rest of his focus remained on steadying his breath, feeling as if going to wild would either ruin his heart and give him a heart attack or scare the other boy off and leave the embrace. Somehow he thought the last option to be the worst. 

Friends wouldn’t usually cuddle like that. Yes, Nagisa was aware this wasn’t really a hug. In any other situation this would be too weird and he’d move away quickly, not wishing to go beyond any boundaries between friendship and whatever this cuddling session was edging on being. He just convinced himself this wasn’t that kind of thing, because he did not feel like pulling away the moment his brain registered he was in fact holding Karma. 

He really took his time to enjoy the moment. 

Eventually, they do start talking again, much to Nagisa’s pleasure because his own thoughts might end up killing him in shame. Karma had asked him about his plans for the weekend, considering he did not feel like spending their free sunday with Nagisa’s mother. 

“Not that she isn’t very lovely,” Karma defended himself, perhaps lying a little. “It’s just a little weird and not great for her nor me” 

He did not need to explain, honestly. Nagisa… got it. 

They agreed to meet up and do something together. Neither of them really wished to spend another day hanging like they had just then, perhaps knowing they’d regret their current actions the moment Karma left to go to Nagisa’s home. 

“As much as I’d love to play more games about kidnapping people to act out violent tendencies, I think we should go out.” Karma said, and Nagisa pretty much agreed with him immediately. “I’ve been wanting to go to Akihabara for a while, I’m looking for this game. We can have a fun shopping day.” 

“Or just looking.” Nagisa pointed out, knowing he was a little short on the money department. 

“You can look, _ I  _ will  _ spend. _ ” 

He continues to talk about said game he wants to look for. From what Nagisa gathers, it’s a little old and hard to find. It must be a pretty good game, considering Karma seems ready to put in a lot of effort to get it. It’s cute that he was so enthusiastic about it. 

Eventually it falls silent, seeing as Nagisa hadn’t reacted to much of Karma’s story. His mind had been racing a little. It seemed today was a day of many thoughts for Nagisa, some happier than other. The particular topic of relevance didn’t exactly fit into the ‘happier’ folder though. 

“What do you think happens if either of us dies during this body swap?” Nagisa asked, very sudden, but actually curious about the answer. 

Karma turned to him, showing a lot of concern on his face. His eyes showed his horrified reaction to Nagisa’s sudden thought. “I’m-  _ What?! _ ” 

“Yeah, you know, if we’re in each other’s body and one of us were to die,” He started to explain, hoping not to scare the other boy off. Somehow he just needed to share his weird train of thought with someone and Karma was the lucky contestant and only person to know about this body swap in the first place. “Like, I guess a dead body is a dead body but, it’s possible that we’d switch back if it happened when we’re in each other’s bodies.

It probably depends on your idea of a soul, but, do you think it would go back to its original body or does it stay where it is because it has nothing to return to? It’s also kind of possible that you’re forever stuck as whoever died in the other person’s body, so no switching back. It’s unpredictable who actually dies and… I don’t know, how does that work?” 

Unsurprisingly Karma was looking at him in absolute horror. “I’d honestly rather not think about either of us  _ dying.  _ Body swap or not.” He was probably right on that aspect. 

Nagisa liked nothing about the look Karma was giving him or the tone of voice he’d used. What was he thinking, talking about stuff like dying? Karma probably thought he was crazy for wanting to know something so sinister so badly. 

“Ha, yeah, no, I’m joking.” Nagisa lied, hoping Karma would assume his sudden rant to, in fact, be a joke comment. “Neither of us is  _ dying _ .” 

The other did not respond by laughing. Instead, he stared into Nagisa’s eyes, hoping to read some kind of unfound knowledge in them about what Nagisa’s brain was up to at that moment. The moment he turned away he mumbled something along the lines of “don’t joke about that stuff” and all Nagisa had in response to that was another single awkward laugh and a nod. 

Nagisa took this awkwardness as a sign to put an end to their hangout. A weight had started to rest on the arm he was holding the other boy with, the reality of just what their position could mean had really started to dawn on him and he wasn’t really ready to confront what that was. Carefully, he removed his arm from the other. 

“You should probably go back, my mother gets annoyed if I stay out too long.” Nagisa said, hiding every uncomfortable feeling he had behind his smile. 

“Your mother will probably get annoyed anyways.” Karma sighed, but he did get up from the bed. All in all, Nagisa knew he probably wasn’t incorrect with his statement. 

They both walked to Karma’s front door, Nagisa ready to wave him off as he went on his way. As he walked through the door, Karma suddenly turned back around to look Nagisa in the eye. He didn’t say anything, but it did look like he wanted to. 

The silence made Nagisa feel a little weird. In any other case he’d have tried to prompt Karma into talking but he was still feeling a little off from the moment before. Perhaps, so was Karma. So the both of them just looked at each other, until Nagisa’s gaze was averted to something behind Karma. 

A car at the opposite side of the street drove away. Nagisa’s initial thought was that it’s the noise attraction thing that makes him look but then he noticed something off. The car was strangely familiar. It was a black Toyota with what seemed to be darkened windows. Much to his annoyance, Nagisa couldn’t see who was in the car, but his mind was telling him that it was something important to know. 

Before he knew it the car had driven off and he noticed that now Karma was staring at him weirdly. The confusion could be read from his face and his wavelengths told Nagisa he was slightly wary. Nagisa really hoped he wasn’t showing some bloodlust or anything. The look didn’t last much longer, because Karma shrugged and nodded as he started to make his way again. 

Nagisa waved him goodbye, not even trying to find the smile from earlier back. He couldn’t hide he was bothered at that moment. As Karma took off he couldn’t help but look at how what were usually his own pigtails were bouncing up and down with Karma’s step. The image made him wonder if it always looked like that and within seconds he’d forgotten about the strange feeling the car earlier had given him. 

Eventually he goes back inside, silently cursing him and Karma for never doing their homework that afternoon. Now he’ll just have to do it by himself and hope it goes well. 

\--------------------------

In Karma’s opinion, he’d arrived back at Nagisa’s place at a very decent time. He definitely did not consider himself to be late. Nagisa had told him to go back and he’d decided it would be wise to listen for once and do just that, if just to please Nagisa. He couldn’t give a single shit about pleasing Shiota Hiromi. 

She didn’t seem to want to talk to him, anyways, so there wasn’t much for him to worry about. The moment he walked into the apartment, she got up and moved to her bedroom. Karma wasn’t bothered by it and decided to go do the same. It was probably right of him to not hinder or bother her in any way, mostly because that’s what Nagisa would do. 

Setting aside the thought of how messed up that was, Karma took out his homework and sat at Nagisa’s desk to make it. It wasn’t very hard to him but he started to take pity on how he’d left Nagisa to do this by himself, it wasn’t exactly easy math. They were kind of planning on doing it together earlier, but it seemed they both got distracted. 

Karma did not mind their final distraction, in all honesty. 

Technically speaking, the homework wasn’t that important. It wasn’t going to be graded or anything so Karma was not bothering with doing super well. He guessed he still had everything correct. Of course the paper he was filling in was technically the paper Korosensei gave to Nagisa, but they’d switch them around the next day anyways. 

If it was graded, it would be in Nagisa’s best interest to  _ not _ switch back their works. Not that Nagisa would do that, he’d call it cheating and he was too much of an honest person to stoop that low. In Karma’s opinion, it was kind of adorable when he was like that. 

It also felt a little pretentious sometimes, but that was another issue. 

Somewhere late in the evening, right before Karma decided he’d have to go to bed, Shiota Hiromi finally made an appearance. She didn’t look particularly in a bad mood but Nagisa had informed Karma that she doesn't always show her emotions. For all he knew, she was extremely pissed off and a bomb waiting for him to say something wrong to explode. 

It didn’t sit right with Karma that those were the kind of thoughts Nagisa considered normal to live with. Sure, he wasn’t exactly an expert on parent-child relationships, but a child constantly attempting to please the parent didn’t exactly sound correct. 

Nagisa’s mother walked in and stood behind him, obviously trying to look at what he was doing at his desk. Seeing the nearly finished homework, she nodded as if she were pleased with it. The way she stood over him felt dreadful. He felt inferior in the controlling look she was giving him and Karma could imagine that this would be even worse so for Nagisa, who actually tended to think less of himself because of the people around him. 

But then, he might have learned that habit somewhere else in his life, and the hairs standing up on Karma’s arm told him it could have something to do with his mother. 

“Good evening, mother.” He greeted her, doing his very best to not sound too ‘karma’. With how much he was applying formalities, he personally thought he didn’t sound like himself at all, which probably meant he was doing  _ perfect _ . 

Shiota Hiromi did not look impressed with him, but then she didn’t know who he really was and how hard he was trying. She wasn’t supposed to know. “Is this your last homework for tonight?” was all she asked as she moved her eyes from her son to the work in front of him. 

“Yes, I will be going to bed soon, mother.” He answered, not having much more information for her. 

She eyed him suspiciously, but didn’t move a muscle. “Just get your act together and quit the weird behaviour,” She started, obviously not in the mood for a fun conversation with the boy who she thought to be her son. “I need you to be on your best behaviour tomorrow, this dinner needs to go  _ well. _ ” The emphasis on the last word made clear just how important this was to her. 

Karma nodded, figuring she did not need more from him. and indeed, she seemed pleased enough and left the bedroom, mumbling out a last goodnight before closing the door behind her. 

With a sigh he returned to finish the last question. His mind drifted towards Nagisa, he should pass on how much stress his mother had put on this dinner thing. As much as he pitied Nagisa for having to deal with it, he was glad the dinner was on a day where the two of them wouldn’t be swapped. If an event was that important he didn’t want to ruin it for Nagisa by literally just acting like himself. As much as he tried, acting like someone else for extended periods of time was exhausting. 

He did as he’d told Hiromi and made way to go to bed the moment he finished his work. Staying awake didn’t have many perks anyways, the best he’d get was another hangout with the mother, and that seemed more like a nightmare than any actual bad dream he’d ever had. 

\--------------------

Nagisa spends his saturday evening sitting at the dinner table working through some English book Korosensei had given him as extra work, as his mother paced around the apartment in a grumpy mood. Whatever dinner he’d apparently agreed to at the dinner table a few days before had been cancelled the last minute and it became clear to Nagisa that it was a pretty big deal to her. supposedly, it had been so important to her that she’d felt the need to rant to him for at least half an hour after she got the phone call. 

If anything, Nagisa felt awkward listening to his mother’s vents, mostly because he still had  _ no idea _ why this dinner was so important to her. She wasn’t exactly explaining it either. However, with how triggered his mother was because of it, he’d spent the ending of the day on his tippy toes, hoping to not bother her in any way or provoke some horrible reaction on her behalf. It was very tiring constantly minding to say the right thing and keep whatever issue he needed help with for himself. 

In all honesty, Nagisa didn’t care the dinner was postponed, apart from the fact that he didn’t like seeing his mother like this. Or feeling like this. He was trying really hard to not let her mood rub off on him. He wasn’t looking forward to the dinner before and now it only irritated him more. 

Instead he had the next day to look forward to. He and Karma would be hanging out and going to Akihabara together. Just the thought of spending such a fun day with Karma made him smile as he distractedly stared at the book he had in front of him. 

He was a little ashamed to admit he wouldn’t mind just spending the day at Karma’s house again, as tedious as the same setting might become after a while, he didn’t feel like Karma himself would get boring. Holding Karma, Karma holding him, it was something he didn’t think he minded. With how much his mind drifted to it, he figured he actually  _ did _ want it. 

Hanging with Karma really had become the light at the end of the tunnel in dealing with his mother’s bad mood. Perhaps, it had even become a general light in his life, to be able to do so much with Karma. He really did feel like he and Karma were slowly becoming closer again. Perhaps the distance they’d created since their first year was finally closing in again. 

It did make him feel anxious. He really did not want Karma to drop him again. His brain told him to move away from Karma now, while he still could without getting attached and hurting himself later in the process. Something else told him leaving Karma now would feel worse than it did the first time. 

\--------------------------

The next morning, Karma arrived at the entrance of the train station about 10 minutes earlier than planned, meaning he had to wait until Nagisa would be arriving. He was completely ready to travel to Akihabara with Nagisa and even made sure to check the weather before he went that morning. It was relatively normal weather for mid-september, but there was always a chance it would be even hotter and he did not want to be soaked in sweat when hanging around Nagisa all day. 

He checked his phone for the time again and felt it was passing slower than he really wished it to. Either time would have to go faster or Nagisa would have to be there sooner because he honestly just wanted to see him. He felt something strange in his stomach, thinking about how he and Nagisa had been cuddling on his bed less than two days ago. Being around him again that day meant more chances to be closer to him. 

Maybe he really was starting to impress Nagisa. 

He really was happy he’d be seeing Nagisa again, even if it was in the wrong body again. He was happy, but also a little nervous. He probably would have to tell Nagisa about the strange ominous dream he’d had that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck scheduling plans. I originally wanted to finish this fic before July, so I could start regular posting on my other planned fics. University year is over for me now, meaning I can go hard and just update twice a week if I really want to. I'm not making promises but the goal is to post at least once a week. 
> 
> this fic will end up being 11-12 chapters, it depends on how many words I need for the climax. 
> 
> As always thank you for reading and your comments and kudos! I appreciate each and everyone of you!


	8. Akihabara Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma and Nagisa have another body swapping day that they decide to spend in Akihabara. Drama ensues.

Nagisa wasn’t exactly sure what he’d been expecting of the train ride to Akihabara. It wouldn’t be too much of a complicated trip so he hadn’t paid much attention in his mind to the fact that it’d be a relatively crowded train, seeing as they were going at pretty busy hours. 

They got on the Chuo line and with every stop ended up being more pressed together. Neither of them had assumed they’d be able to sit down, however, neither of them was prepared to have their chests pushed together because of all the people around them for quite the span of time it took to get to Akihabara. 

Somehow, Nagisa felt some heat rising to his face as he looked down to see blue hair pressed against him. He couldn’t see the other’s face but most likely he was annoyed at the current situation. The kind of situation Nagisa would usually have been in, this being the irregular occasion of him being taller than most people around the two of them. He could fully imagine being pressed against Karma’s chest, feeling his warmth through the fabric of his shirt. He really needed to stop thinking about that unless he wanted his current face to explode with what he assumed to be embarrassment. 

He really wanted to look down some more, hoping the other would look up at him and they could share this moment. He didn’t look down though, because he also knew it would be way too awkward. Instead, he ended up looking straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with literally everyone in the train as much as he could. 

The biggest reason they were going to Akihabara was to avoid hanging out at home an entire day while switched, but Karma did want to look for some game. The fact that they needed to go to Akihabara for that told Nagisa it must be pretty hard to find, and probably a little specific. He didn’t mind it though, it really was a good excuse for them to really go out. 

Go out as friends, that is. Sure, two people going out an entire day could be seen as romantic but that wasn’t them. Nagisa almost had to laugh at the thought but withheld himself, seeing as he would look kind of crazy, being in public and all. To him, the idea of Karma being in a relationship with someone like him was absolutely crazy. 

Karma could do so much better. He was a really interesting person with many interests and, well, Nagisa wasn’t afraid to admit his friend could be considered cute. Of course, he judged that from a friend perspective, as someone who wished he was more like Karma. 

When they finally arrived at Akihabara, Nagisa was relieved. Their cramped position in the train wasn’t just awkward anymore, it kind of started to bother him physically. The moment he got out he stretched his arms and he noticed the boy in his body doing the same. 

They walked through the street, Nagisa carefully eyeing colourful signs and listening to Karma excitedly talking about something he saw in a shop window. When Nagisa looked over to meet Karma’s eyes, he thought for a mere second that he saw a little glistening in them. He genuinely looked like he was having a good time. The first word that came into Nagisa’s mind as he saw Karma like that was ‘adorable’. 

“Oh! this store is perfect, come on.” Karma suddenly interrupted himself, taking Nagisa’s hand and dragging him inside the store he saw. Usually Nagisa’s hands were the cold ones between the two of them, but when Karma was in his body and grabbed ahold of him in that moment, those hands were  _ burning _ . 

Even when he walked in and Karma had let go of him, Nagisa found himself staring at the hand that had previously been held. After a bit, he looked up to see Karma having long moved on, excitedly looking over game titles as if he were a kid in a candy shop. 

Nagisa’s heart skipped a beat and he noticed his own hand reaching out towards Karma’s. He didn’t stop himself, but it didn’t end up reaching its destination because the other suddenly turned to him and Nagisa quickly retracted his hand in hopes his friend hadn’t seen it. 

“I have to go ask an employee something,” Karma announced. “You stay here, if this takes long, it’s not my fault.” and then he took off, leaving Nagisa alone in the aisle. 

He ended up just looking at the covers of a couple of games. There wasn’t really anything he needed, and he didn’t want to spend too much money anyways, but it was fun enough to look around. He found himself looking around for his own body a lot, anticipating Karma’s return. It was kind of ridiculous, he just needed to ask something and he’d be back, but Nagisa wanted him there right then. 

His thoughts of Karma were disrupted by the presence of someone else in the aisle. Nagisa sensed the girl before she even approached him, but he pretended not to notice because he didn’t want to startle her. Eventually, she tapped his shoulder. 

“Hey, Akabane Karma, right?” The girl was smiling brightly at him as she spoke. She was definitely pretty, short black hair framed her face and she seemed to be dressed in, what Nagisa assumed to be, fashionable clothes. He was glad she mentioned Karma’s name, or else he might have forgotten for a bit who he in fact was at that moment. 

“Uh, yeah” He answered, really hoping he wasn’t supposed to recognize this girl. 

Luckily, she expected that and introduced herself to him. “Okamura Kasumi, I go too Kunugigaoka too.” Instantly Nagisa remembered her. She was in the same class as him and Karma in their second year. Her and Nagisa never really hung out, so she hadn’t stuck in his mind very well. 

“Oh right, yeah I remember now,” He nodded, sending her a smile. “Weren’t we- uh, partners for science a couple of times?” 

Something about remembering that detail confused Nagisa a little. It wasn’t like he’d paid that much attention to Karma in specific, he was just the kind of person to observe a lot. But why on earth did he remember it so well? 

“Yeah, yeah, we were partners quite often,” She said, seemingly proud of that fact. “You know I’m kind of glad to see you here in Akihabara, I kind of have been thinking I should have asked for your number…” 

As she’d spoken those words Kasumi had gotten much closer to Nagisa, making him feel a little weird about the situation.  _ ‘what is she doing?’  _ He took a step back but didn’t stop smiling at her, not wishing to be rude or hurt her feelings in any way. 

“Oh, well, you know, went to E class and stuff-” Nagisa started, but he didn’t get to say much. 

“Well yeah, but your grades are definitely good enough to return to the main building, I don’t know why you stay in that class.” It sounded much like what he’d expect her to say. She probably thought she was better than E class, and Nagisa figured that in a grades perspective she might be. “But that’s okay, everyone knows you’re smart and all, definitely too cool for that class.” 

Every bone in Nagisa’s body wanted to leave. He had no idea why she was being like this, even if she thought it was just her and Karma there. The way she kept coming closer to him and the suggestive tone in her voice almost made Nagisa angry. Somehow, he pressed down all the negative feelings and continued talking to her for a bit. She just wouldn’t stop talking as she was, even when she started a very detailed discussion on the new fighter game that came out that she obviously had a lot of knowledge of. 

Eventually Nagisa was done and interrupted her. “Actually I’m here with someone. I should go find-” 

“ _ with _ someone?” Her eyes grew wide. Before Nagisa could react she moved back a little, showing uncertainty on her face. “Oh, I mean I- I see.” 

“You… see?” Nagisa questioned. 

Kasumi shrugged, a little awkward now. Nagisa knew this wasn’t because they couldn’t talk about games anymore, because no one got  _ that _ upset about that. A noise distracted her for a second but she looked back at him again. 

“I guess I didn’t consider you’d be here on a date is all.” Kasumi gave him a forced smile. 

By no means had Nagisa been prepared for that. They weren’t on a date, surely he couldn’t let Kasumi go away thinking that. But, on the other hand, he also had no idea what else to tell her. He did want her to leave so he could hang with Karma again. 

At that moment he spied blue hair coming his direction and he found himself quickly waving goodbye to the girl and taking off to meet with his friend halfway. He doesn’t look back as he left Kasumi behind in the previous aisle, secretly hoping she doesn’t feel like talking to Karma like that again. 

“Found the game!” Karma proudly presented the game he was holding in his hand. With much ease Nagisa joined in the better mood his friend was having, completely leaving the idea of Kasumi behind, even if she might see the two of them together. “I only had to force three different employees to look in their stock and I only threatened one of them.” 

So, Nagisa wasn’t sure how proud he was of that one. At the very least he was impressed Karma had managed to successfully threaten someone even if he was in Nagisa’s small non-threatening looking body. “Good, is there anywhere else you want to go?” He asked. “Any more stores?” 

For reasons unbeknownst to Nagisa, Karma started grinning. “There is a fun place to go, sure.” He offered. Nagisa knew it probably was nothing good but he went along with it, hoping he could just wurm himself out of any too weird situations. It probably wasn’t even anything bad. 

Nagisa, however, was wrong. After following the street and taking a few turns and an alleyway (all the while somehow still trusting Karma enough through all of it), they ended up side by side, looking at a corner of several gross looking vending machines. 

“What… is this?” Nagisa asked, a little disgusted by what he was looking at it. At the very least, this place was shady. It wasn’t too weird to see this many vending machines, though he did feel a little uncomfortable because he knew some weird types that tended to hang around them for fun. He did think of Karma as the type to hang like that, but he was hoping he’d at least picked some more sanitary and higher class vending machines. 

Not that high class vending machines were really a thing in his opinion. 

“They’re vending machines,” Karma simply said, still grinning a little at Nagisa. “We can get fun stuff like popcorn or  _ mystery packages _ .” It was a little disturbing how non-bothered Karma was by the idea. Nagisa was led to the machines by Karma and he pointed out the popcorn. 

“We’re not getting that,” was all Nagisa said. “those are going to poison us.” 

Karma let out a snort, obviously not as distressed about this. “It’s popcorn, what could go wrong?” He opted. Then, he proceeded to actually take out his wallet and that was where Nagisa drew the line. 

If Karma really wanted popcorn he could get it from a decent place. One look in the machine made Nagisa assume that the shady popcorn was old and past its due date. It would be stale and gross. Even if it wasn’t, Nagisa had some fear in his mind that it actually was poisoned, or that someone threw something else weird over it. There was no way they were getting that. 

Before Karma could take any money out of his wallet Nagisa sneaked his arm under his and snatched it from his hand. At first Karma stared at his hand in silence before looking at Nagisa as if he were offended. 

“Give me my wallet back.” He demanded, but Nagisa wasn’t going to give in. 

“We’re not getting the shady popcorn.” He was pretty determined about this. He came to Akihabara to have a fun day, not to deal with Karma getting food poisoning in his body, or his own body for that matter, or worse. “Why don’t we go to a decent place to eat?” 

Karma glanced at the popcorn but ended up giving in with a sigh. “How about a mystery package?” He asked, hoping for something wild, probably. 

The moment he met Nagisa’s gaze he knew it was a ‘no’ and he shrugged, regaining his posture and linking his arm with Nagisa’s. It was a little weird with the height difference. Usually Nagisa would be dragged along a little but with him being the tall one it wasn’t the same at all. 

“I know a pretty good place to eat at!” Karma announced as they walked back in the direction they came from. 

\------------------------------------------------

“You know, when you said you knew a decent place, I wasn’t expecting McDonalds.” Nagisa said, putting down his tray on the table the two of them had decided to sit at. 

“Do you mind it?” Karma asked him, definitely not troubled by the scenery. 

Nagisa had to admit it had a certain familiarity. Even if the building was different, every McDonalds felt kind of the same. Karma would say that it ‘had the same vibe’, which Nagisa guessed was a fine description for it. He couldn’t say he minded it. If anything, it reminded him of their first year where they’d joke about their McDonalds dates all the time. 

He smiled at the thought of those ‘dates’ and as he looked up saw Karma noticed him, seeing as he was looking at him with a confused smile. At that moment Nagisa knew he had in fact not reacted for a bit, only started smiling.  _ ‘Good job Nagisa, make it weird.’  _

“Oh, no! I’m fine with it.” He managed to say. “Just- sorry, I started thinking about something.” Nagisa really hoped Karma wouldn’t ask any further questions. 

Luckily, Karma did let it go and the two of them just started to eat their food, having a casual conversation as they did. Nagisa was glad it wasn’t as awkward as two days earlier, when he’d resorted to talking about the  _ weather _ of all things. At that moment, they were discussing some class drama, and Karma’s weird take on them made Nagisa laugh quite a bit. 

“You  _ cannot _ say Takebayashi is in the right here!” Nagisa said, still laughing at Karma’s previous comment. “He only called Hazama those words because she isn’t 2D like all of his crushes. Besides, you shouldn’t talk bad about Hazama. She’s my friend and, you know, she did help with the whole dream thing just this week.” 

At the mention of his dream he noticed Karma tensing up. Nagisa raised an eyebrow, finding it weird that Karma reacted like that. Just seconds ago he’d been smiling like an idiot agreeing with Takebayashi’s lack of knowledge on the distinction between emo and goth. “Is… something up?” He decided he needed to ask. 

Karma started shaking his head but immediately stopped himself. For some reason he’d started to bite on his lip slightly and that was enough of a sign for Nagisa to ask further about it. 

“Did- Did something happen related to my dream?” Apparently he asked the right question because Karma’s eyes grew a little wider. Nagisa just waited for him to start talking. 

He didn’t, at first. Just kind of looked Nagisa in the eye as if he was considering whether Nagisa was worthy of this information. Somehow Nagisa felt a little hurt, but he also respected that if Karma didn’t want to share something, he shouldn’t be forced to. Much to Nagisa’s relief, Karma decided to share whatever the issue was with him. 

“I kind of also had a dream.” Karma let out, completely shocking Nagisa. He didn’t add any information. 

“The same one?” Suddenly Nagisa was even more interested in their conversation. 

Karma shook his head. “It wasn’t exactly the same but- well, it had the same energy? If that makes sense.” For a moment he thought about his words. “I recognized this dark space you were talking about and- man, I don’t know, you were there like I was in yours with the mirror.” 

“Wait, was I in a mirror too?” He asked, earning another negative answer. 

The two of them sat in silence as Nagisa contemplated what he just heard. He still wasn’t sure if his dream was really the predicting future kind, and now Karma had one too, it only added to the confusion. What might have been worse was that Nagisa assumed it didn’t need to have anything to do with the whole body swap thing, but if Karma, the person he was swapping bodies with, had a similar dream, it might actually be just that. 

It still didn’t explain why, of course. He’d have to know what Karma’s dream was to solve this puzzle. So, he looked Karma in the eye, feeling a little insincere because he stared into his own blue eyes instead, and nudged him to continue. 

“Well,” Karma started. “It started about the same as yours. It was kind of like I was in a dark abyss, but I could see the floor. The difference is that I remember you saying you recognized it to be a street and I saw what seemed to be a concrete floor? On top of that, I opened my eyes to notice myself sitting. 

Eventually I noticed a door, big, metal, reminded me of those prison doors you see in movies. There wasn’t any wall though, so I saw three people standing there, and three new people approaching. Didn’t see any faces.” 

Nagisa’s face was scrunched up deep in thought, somehow trying to process what Karma was telling him. It certainly wasn’t what he dreamt, but the idea of the space was indeed the same. 

“You said you saw me in your dream, was I in this… well I’m guessing it’s a prison?” Nagisa asked, unsure how to phrase his question. He did notice himself talking in a softer tone of voice, as had Karma. Neither of them wanted the other McDonalds customers to hear their weird dream conversation. 

Karma shared the same concentrated look on his face as he continued. “No, it’s like you with the light-headedness, a sudden change of scenery. You weren’t in a mirror though, you were just sitting on the grass, talking to me in English for some reason. Somehow I remember  _ exactly _ what you told me, too. ‘So, zero six one zero.’ And then I wanted to lay down on the grass and I fell instead. 

After that I woke up, felt pretty weird too. And now we’re here.” 

When he was done, Nagisa let it sink in. “So this definitely isn’t a coincidence.” He thought out loud. If both of them had dreams it really had to mean something. His mind immediately went to Hazama. She was the expert on this stuff, they should probably go talk to her. 

Issue was, she’d have to know about the body swap then. Last time Nagisa could justify not telling her that little detail, but it became pretty clear to him this was an important factor. He couldn’t figure out why though. 

They couldn’t really tell her about Karma having a dream and assume she wouldn’t see something was up. Also, she probably could judge the situation a little better if she knew. Nagisa wasn’t really jumping up and down at the idea of telling anyone, though. In the end, sometimes you just had to do things you’d rather not. 

“We should tell Hazama.” He concluded, speaking to Karma this time. 

Karma looked at him confused. “You want her to interpret my dream?” He asked, but that wasn’t completely what Nagisa had meant. 

“If we want her to, we should probably tell her  _ everything. _ ” Nagisa explained. “She needs to know this body swap is a thing, it might have something to do with these dreams and, well, important in the interpretation.” 

When he tried to read Karma he immediately knew he wasn’t comfortable with the idea. Not only did he seem to grow even more tense, his face showed clear discomfort as Nagisa explained what he intended to do. It definitely didn’t seem like Karma was in on the idea. 

“We need to talk to  _ someone _ who can help us, Karma.” Nagisa pleaded. “We can’t solve something like this with the two of u-” 

“You can’t tell anyone.” Karma interrupted him, and all Nagisa did in response was stare at him. 

Karma had become very serious suddenly. He seemed resolute on not telling anyone about this, even though Nagisa figured they really did need help. He wasn’t asking him to tell  _ everyone _ , just people who could actually do something. As inexperienced as Korosensei probably was with students swapping bodies, he was an extraordinary teacher who could help with even the strangest situations. Surely he’d be able to mean something to them in this situation. 

“Nagisa, I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone.” Karma said, a little threateningly looking Nagisa in the eyes, but Nagisa could read some desperation coming from him too. 

He wasn’t sure if he agreed with this approach, but he didn’t want to make Karma uncomfortable either. Karma had just started hanging out with him and he didn’t wish to break his trust. The thought of needing help hadn’t escaped Nagisa’s mind however. 

“Okay,” Nagisa gave in. “I promise.” 

\----------------------------------------------------

They continued their day, avoiding the topic of dreams and body swaps. It was a little awkward, perhaps, but with the both of them enjoying Akihabara so much together it was very much a background problem for that moment. 

Nagisa would be thinking about it again when he was alone later, he just knew. It was only natural he was so concerned. All he wanted was either an adult or friend to help them with the situation. Preferably an adult, actually. Nagisa trusted Korosensei enough to want the best for him and Karma in this situation. Karma might not trust authority as much, and with his recent second encounter with Takaoka, Nagisa felt a little weird sometimes too. But Korosensei wasn’t like that. 

As he had said beforehand, Nagisa didn’t buy anything on their day out. Even in McDonalds, Karma had offered to pay for him. He refused, of course, but Karma somehow managed to force his own money on the poor confused McDonalds employee who had to deal with the both of them wrestling to give him their money. Nagisa didn’t need to be paid for, but he did say thank you afterwards, even if it was just out of politeness. 

He was more than happy they travelled back at a less busy hour than they had on the way there. That didn’t mean they could sit, but it wasn’t the worst. Still, finally stepping out at their station felt much better, though Nagisa was a little sad he and Karma would have to say they goodbyes again. 

Karma seemed to share that sentiment because the moment they left the train station he turned to him and faked a dramatic sigh. “This is where the roads part” He might have been acting, but he did seem a little disappointed. All Nagisa did in response was let out a little laugh. 

Obviously, not the best reaction, because now the two of them were left standing and staring at each other. Neither of them made the first move to leave. Nagisa knew he had to send Karma off, seeing as the reason they had to go back pretty early was the fact that his mother wanted him home in time. He himself didn’t like dealing with the consequences of arriving late, let alone let Karma in his body deal with it. 

The thought made Nagisa panic slightly. So far his mother only had one really bad moment when Karma was in his body, he didn’t want more to happen and get Karma involved in his homelife like that. He supposed he was kind of involved already at this point, but that didn’t matter. No further incidents were needed. 

“Well, you should go.” He finally broke their silence. “You don’t want to be late.” 

Karma nodded and ensured his bag was properly on his shoulder again. “I will, see you tomorrow.” A smile crept on his face the moment Nagisa gave him a small wave and told him to come home safe. Then, suddenly, he moved forward.

And Nagisa felt his lips on his. 

It lasted only a second before Nagisa himself quickly pulled away, staring at Karma in the process. For a moment, neither of them said anything, they stared. Nagisa was shocked, Karma looked shocked too but with a hint of regret. He started to open his mouth, clearly wanting to say something, but before he could Nagisa turned around and walked away. 

Nagisa speed walked back to Karma’s place, his mind a complete mess. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot of Nagisa for this chapter! actually... it's only Nagisa...sorry. I think it's clear where my preferences lie. bit of a weird ending with Karma uh... kissing his own body? Yes this creates drama, and yes... the previous Karma gossip drama will be returning soon :) 
> 
> I'm working my ass off writing this and somehow making my plot logical. I still enjoy writing this of course and I get happy with every comment and kudo i see. I love all of you.


	9. Confrontation Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you fo something stupid and it has consequences. Sometimes, that stupid thing is kissing your friend.

Nagisa slammed the door in frustration, somehow hoping the forceful movement would help him let out some steam. It didn’t. He was as pissed off as he dropped down on Karma’s bed as he was when he walked away from him. 

_ ‘why would he do that to him?’  _ His mind was racing as he thought about Karma’s sudden kiss. Surely, he hadn’t done anything to lead that on, it quite literally came out of nowhere. Sure, he smiled at him, but he does that to everyone. 

Not everyone kisses him on the lips like that. 

He’s not sure how to feel about it. Part of him wanted to scream at Karma to not do that, and another part of him wanted to ask him to do it again. Preferably when they were in their own bodies. A sudden kiss was strange, but he basically just got kissed by himself and Nagisa wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He kind of wanted to laugh at the idea that Karma wanted to kiss himself, but his brain immediately autocorrected him that that wasn’t the case and he had an actual situation to deal with. 

Did Karma see their day out as something more than it was? Nagisa realized how much he’d emphasized the “not a date” part to himself, but did he clarify that to Karma? He’d never intended for it to come across like that, at least not consciously. 

He rolled over, now facing up to stare at Karma’s ceiling. Their conversations, their kind-of-date, and the cuddling session they’d had on the exact bed Nagisa was lying on at that moment. Perhaps there really was something more going on the entire time. The question was: did Nagisa want it? 

Eventually he decided to call it a night, covering himself in Karma’s covers, unbothered by the heat because he wanted to hide away from the world so badly. Tomorrow would be a new day at school, he’d be in his own body at least, but he’d definitely have to see Karma. 

\-----------------------------------

The next day Nagisa arrived to school, in his own body, just before class started, to ensure Karma would have no time to come talk to him. He tried, obviously, but Korosensei asked him to sit down for class and unless Karma wanted the class’s attention for this conversation (he did not), he’d have to go back to his own seat. Nagisa was relieved he did so. 

It was perhaps a little ironic that he was the one avoiding Karma now, when Karma had been avoiding him only a couple of days ago. Personally, Nagisa thought his own avoidance act was more valid seeing as both of them knew  _ exactly _ why he was doing it. Nagisa just wasn’t ready for the confrontation. 

The first hours passed and Nagisa went into lunch with the same mission he had before. He’d basically ran over to Korosensei the moment class ended, asking an abundance of questions he actually already knew the complicated long answers too. It was a bore to hear all the information he had in his head already but it sure kept Korosensei going the entire break. 

“If you have any more issues with this particular topic I could always help you after school, Nagisa.” Korosensei told him, interrupting his own mathematical lecture. “You haven’t had any chance to eat your lunch yet.” 

Nagisa shook his head politely. “It’s fine.” He said, honestly not caring that much about eating at that moment. The truth was that he wasn’t even hungry. Anything he tried to eat he heavily felt going down and it was making him more than uncomfortable. “I just… really want to be able to continue with my exercises and this is all pretty important for it, so yeah.” 

Lucky for him, Korosensei didn’t question him any further and just kept explaining. When Nagisa looked over his shoulder for a second he saw Karma leaning against the back wall of the classroom, arms crossed and staring intensely at Nagisa. He was waiting for him, but Nagisa was going to make this conversation last as long as he needed it to. 

Class continued and Karma hadn’t gotten even a second to talk to Nagisa, which meant mission achieved to Nagisa. He still noticed himself looking back at Karma throughout class, but he didn’t seem to be doing much. Sometimes their eyes met, but both of them immediately looked away again. It made Nagisa question why things always turned out weird when it came to Karma. 

After class he was approached from two sides. From all the way in the back of the classroom he noticed Karma coming over, and from right behind him he saw Sugino. Before Karma could breach the distance between them, Nagisa grabbed Sugino’s wrist, ready to drag him out. Nagisa apparently underestimated how fast Karma was. 

“Nagisa, look we need-” Karma made a valid attempt to start, but Nagisa wasn’t about to actually talk to him. 

“Sorry, me and Sugino were going to hang out and, uh-” For a moment, Nagisa looked at Sugino, trying to think of some game plan for his situation. He decided the more vague, the better. “There was something important, I’m sorry, it’s a friend trusting thing.” 

Sugino didn’t react at first, but after a moment to process he slowly nodded his head. “Yeah, kind of important.” To Nagisa he sounded convincing enough. 

Reluctantly, Karma took off without a word. Nagisa held his breath until he had left the classroom. Then he turned to Sugino and suggested they’d walk and talk. Sugino agreed with that plan. 

They made their way down the mountain together as they talked, sugino obviously curious about what just happened. “Look, you’re acting weird, have been for about a week now. If something’s up you can tell me.” Sugino was being a supportive friend, Nagisa appreciated that. 

Of course, He couldn’t tell Sugino about the bodyswap thing, which was in fact why he was acting strange fifty percent of the time. He promised Karma he wouldn’t tell anyone about it, and even if he felt conflicted about Karma at that moment, a promise was a promise. Nagisa wasn’t someone who broke promises that easily. 

“It’s fine, it’ll blow over.” Nagisa assured him. Somehow he wasn’t ready to talk about the kiss either. He really was being the king of communication that day, huh? 

Sugino didn’t believe him. It didn’t even take a reading of his wavelengths for Nagisa to know, he showed it quite clearly. He intended to show it. He didn’t say anything though, and neither was Nagisa. The two of them walked down the rest of their way in silence. 

Only when Nagisa was about to wave Sugino off because he had to go in a different direction, did Sugino speak up. “Does all of this have anything to do with our conversation about Karma?” He asked, quite unannounced. 

Perhaps this was because of a body swap issue, or maybe his memory was just worthless, but Nagisa had no idea what he was talking about. Sure, he’d talked about Karma before with Sugino, but no specific recent situation came to mind. The usual conversations told him enough about Sugino’s opinion on Karma. Perhaps this third party opinion could help him in this scenario. 

He hadn’t immediately replied. Both of them just stood in silence, the taller boy looking at his friend with a kind of pity in his eyes, but not in a sense that Nagisa felt offended by. Sugino meant well, even if Nagisa felt a little awkward about the situation. It took a few seconds for him to think before he decided to ask Sugino his question. 

“Do you think that, if Karma did something… weird or, something I might be unsure about… That I should talk about it?” Nagisa asked. “Even if I  _ know _ it will be a horrible conversation to have and might only complicate things further?” 

Apparently that was what Sugino had somewhat been expecting. He let out a breathy laugh and shook his head in disappointment. “It’s always about Karma with you, isn’t it?” He said, surprising Nagisa. “I’m- I’m not judging you, it’s just that we’ve talked about him so much and well, last week even.” 

Nagisa was convinced he hadn’t talked about Karma  _ that much.  _ By now he was assuming Karma had talked about himself to his friends, which was kind of a natural thing to do probably. Nagisa hadn’t done that as Karma because, well, he wasn’t really sure who his friends were other than their shared ones. 

“I’m not sure I understand.” Nagisa admitted. 

“You know what? Maybe you should talk to him if he did something, or even if you did.” Sugino let out with a sigh. His demeanor had somewhat changed, his attitude towards Karma in their usual conversations was quite different. “I might not like Karma that much, but anytime you talk about Karma you seem sad when it doesn’t work out. 

Karma’s vibe might scare me off a little, I’ll admit that. I see you can have fun with him though. If you like being friends with him, you should go talk to him in your way, not mine. If you want to stay friends with him, you have to communicate just as we do. My opinion doesn’t define your friendship with Karma.” 

All Nagisa could do was stare at his friend in silence. Ever since Karma had returned to school and came to 3E, Sugino hadn’t been too fond of him. Nagisa was well aware, he’d told him very clearly that he thought Karma was some wannabe delinquent… yet also kind of lazy. 

“But you said Karma was bad for me?” Nagisa was feeling doubtful about the whole situation. “Everytime I talk to you about the whole… crossdressing thing, you’re basically telling me I should punch him in the face because, and I quote, ‘He kind of needs that’” 

An awkward laugh escaped Sugino. “Yeah, well, you never did punch him, I think. Maybe if you actually told Karma properly why you don’t like certain things he does he might stop, even if my personal opinion of him as a friend is that he’s too… weird.” Sugino put his hand on Nagisa’s shoulder. “Or if he’s more than a friend, I guess.” 

Nagisa felt as if he were caught red handed. He needed to think through what he just talked about and he told Sugino just that. Sugino, being what Nagisa considered to be a good friend, let him go home to do so. He didn’t stop thinking about Karma, he probably would have to talk to him. 

\-------------------------------------

Karma knows he royally messed up with Nagisa. If there had been any chance of him and Nagisa getting together, he had ruined it now. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was thinking, but he was kind of proud of himself for being able to make a move. He was also a little proud he managed to kiss his own body. He had no idea how difficult it was to kiss someone when you were so much smaller than them. 

The pride didn’t outweigh the shame of the situation. Worst of all, Nagisa wouldn’t even talk to him about it, or about anything at all. It felt a little shit to have him avoiding him, but he knew it was somewhat justified. 

That’s the reason he was trying not to get angry with him, or angry in general. After school, and after another failed attempt of talking to Nagisa, he stormed down the mountain, hoping to find something interesting on his way home to get rid of his feelings. Before he could reach the bottom a yellow flash was in his sight and he knew instantly who was about to appear in front of him. 

“Karma, I believe I have something to talk about with you.” Korosensei said, blocking Karma’s path. Karma wasn’t up for that and had no issues straying from the barely-to-be-considered path to get away from him. He kept walking, noticing Korosensei wasn’t following him. 

“Leave me alone, octopus.” 

\------------------------------------------

When Nagisa woke up in Karma’s body the next morning his first instinct was to text his own phone, hoping it wasn’t too late to have a talk with the boy that currently owned it. Seeing as he didn’t want to come across to desperate or too annoying, it took him a solid 15 minutes of brooding over breakfast to actually send something. He really wanted to use the right words. 

In reality, he really needed the right words later that day, if they did end up talking. Nothing was more embarrassing than arriving to that talk without any words to say. He had to confront Karma about why he kissed him, what his intentions were, and how he himself felt about it. 

Not that he knew how he felt about it, of course. He still had no idea if he was entirely overjoyed by what had happened, but a voice in his head tried to convince him it was the momentum. If some part of his brain wanted him to like Karma, perhaps he really did. 

Nagisa: Hey, we should talk after school. 

He considered double texting, but eventually figured out that it would come across as desperate. The situation was simple: everything was complex and all they had to do was talk. Perhaps that was a little confusing, at least to nagisa it was. What mattered most was that the text didn’t need to be complicated. It got him a pretty quick reply too. 

Karma: Yes pls

Nagisa arrived to school decently in time. All the texting chaos had cost him quite a bit of time so he wasn’t as early as he’d usually be. Being Karma that day, that might actually be better. Perhaps he was playing the role a lot better like this. 

Before he could sit down, Korosensei was suddenly standing next to his desk. “Karma, we really do have to have that talk after school today.” He announced. Nagisa was a little confused, and probably showing just that. He couldn’t remember Karma saying Korosensei wanted to talk to him. But then, he also hadn’t talked to Karma at all the previous day. “I assure you I wouldn’t press on it so much if it wasn’t important.” 

Carefully, Nagisa nodded. He figured he could fake being the other boy in front of his teacher for a few more minutes after school. He’d inform Karma of it, to ensure he didn’t think he was avoiding him again. He  _ was _ going to have this talk, even if his stomach started doing loops anytime he thought about it. 

Korosensei took off again, ready to start class. Nagisa cursed himself for reacting so dumbfound to his teacher. Karma would have said something rash or sarcastic, not give an awkward nod and look like an idiot doing so. It wasn’t like his teacher didn’t already think he was having an off week anyways. Truth was, he was, for very odd reasons. 

After class that day Nagisa did pass that information to Karma, notifying him he’ll be outside in a bit. Karma seemed confused but agreed to wait for him at the cliff. Both of them knew they couldn’t avoid their teacher forever. 

“You wanted to talk?” Nagisa approached his teacher as all the other students streamed out of the classroom. He sent a last glance towards his own body before turning back to his teacher who was putting away his last books. 

“Yes, Karma, please sit down at a front row desk.” It was a random request, but Nagisa listened to his teacher. He just hoped this conversation wouldn’t take too long, if he had to sit down for it. 

Several minutes passed and the most exciting thing that happened was Korosensei sitting down opposite of him. Neither of them had said much. His teacher has asked him if there was something he wanted to tell him, and Nagisa said no. It wasn’t hard to believe for Nagisa that Karma was in some kind of trouble, perhaps Korosensei was giving him a chance to confess his actions before being confronted about it. If that was the case, that would be a problem though, because Nagisa had no idea what kind of trouble Karma could have gotten into. Especially, he had no idea what kind of trouble Karma could have gotten into that Korosensei found out about. 

Nagisa just kind of looked down at the desk. It wasn’t a ‘I feel guilty’ look, more of a ‘I don’t know what you want from me and this silence is killing me’ look. If Korosensei wasn’t going to say anything, what was the point of staying behind to talk? Karma was waiting for him at the cliff, ready for what he hoped to be an  _ actual conversation.  _ If that talk ended in mutual silence too, he’d rather jump off that cliff. 

“Nagisa?” Korosensei suddenly said, and Nagisa looked up in surprise. He hadn’t meant him, he wasn’t Nagisa at that moment. If he wasn’t, that meant Karma as Nagisa would have entered the classroom for some reason. With a slightly delayed reaction, Nagisa looked over to the classroom door, no one had entered. 

“Uh, Nagisa isn’t here, sensei?” He tilted his head in confusion. 

Korosensei let out a small humm as he seemingly studied his student. “So I’m not talking to Nagisa right now?” 

It took a few seconds for Nagisa to realize what was happening. He was in fact still in Karma’s body. So why…? He looked up and down and then at Korosensei, who was now showing yellow and green striped on his face. “Wait, you knew?!” 

Perhaps Nagisa’s head was spinning a little. No one was supposed to know about to body swap, how on earth did his teacher find out? It raised another question to him, if perhaps Korosensei had something to do with it. He dismissed the idea immediately, knowing Korosensei was always going on about how he wanted what’s best for his students. He wouldn’t be so cruel to have anything to do with a body swap. Nagisa didn’t even know if that was possible. 

Then again, little over a week ago he didn’t think a body swap at all was possible. 

“I figured it out after what I assume to be a couple of days.” Korosensei explained. “Both of you acted very on and off every other day, and you particularly were saying some things I usually hear from Karma. I wanted to use this week as proof but, I think two days was more than enough.” 

He explained to Nagisa what he had noticed so far. their words, obviously, but also largely the way they did their work and how secretive the two of them were being. Korosensei admitted he himself thought a body swap was a bit of a far fetched idea, but it seemed he really was right. 

“Why didn’t either of you come to me? You know I would always help my students, even if the situation is a little odd.” Korosensei asked Nagisa, definitely more compassion this time around. The stripes indicating his cockiness from earlier were gone. 

“It was weird at first and-” Nagisa took a breath, not sure what to tell his teacher. In his opinion, they really  _ should have _ told him about this. “Karma made me promise not to, it’s complicated I guess. but yeah, we switch bodies every other day.” 

It was Nagisa’s turn to tell his side of the story. He mentioned the dreams shortly, and Korosensei commented on it, but neither of them had much insight on them. Korosensei advised him to come in with Karma and have this talk together, but Nagisa knew there was something else to do first. 

“Actually, I have an important conversation to have with Karma right now.” He announced, hoping Korosensei would let him go have that talk. “There are some things we need to figure out with just the two of us.” 

\----------------------------------

Karma sat on the ground, about 2 meters away from the cliff. Usually he’d sit at the edge because he liked the thrill of it, but he knew it would freak Nagisa out after what happened the last time they had a talk here. He just sat there, waiting for Nagisa, growing more impatient by the second. 

When Nagisa finally did emerge from the trees he couldn’t help but feel relieved. He hadn’t meant to, but he somehow felt as if Nagisa was going to be a no-show, as if he were to leave him behind. It was kind of rude of him to have such low expectations of Nagisa, but it wasn’t the kind of thing he had under control. 

The moment Nagisa sat down next to him, Karma figured he should probably be the one to start the conversation. It was sort of his fault they were in the position they were currently in. He really wanted to avoid another talk with Nagisa that started with a full on several minutes of silence. 

“I should apologize,” He spoke up, hoping his tone was sincere enough. He was having a hard time keeping the serious thing going, it wasn’t his usual approach. “Granted, I had no right to suddenly kiss you, and I’ll be the first to admit it was a little weird with… everything going on.” 

Nagisa’s only reaction consisted of a nod and a slight humming sound, most likely to confirm the weirdness of it all. It was a little frustrating he didn’t say much more. 

“right, well, I said I’m sorry.” It didn’t really feel like a conversation to Karma at that moment, it being a little one sided so far. “And I just… I hope we are still friends, like we were before. Even if- Even if I think this all is much bigger than that.” 

_ That _ caught Nagisa’s attention. He tilted his head, confused by what Karma meant. “Something bigger? Are you saying your feelings mean we have to-” 

Hastily, Karma shook his head, knowing exactly where Nagisa’s mind was going. “I’m not saying we should…  _ date _ , just because I might feel something.” He really wanted Nagisa to understand his thought process and, if possible, agree. “I just don’t believe things don’t happen for a reason. 

I  _ know _ I like you more than what you are to me right now, yes, but what I think matters more is that there is so much more going on than just that. This body swap we’re experiencing, it has to mean something. I don’t believe this is all some random twist of fate we just have to deal with.” 

He didn’t intend for it to sound cheesy, but perhaps that’s just how other people viewed his ideas. His story was no lie though; The body swap, the dreams, the fact that he and Nagisa were at quite a pivotal moment in their friendship, it all had to lead somewhere. All that was left was hoping Nagisa got that. 

Judging by Nagisa’s face at that moment, he didn’t He seemed even more confused than he had before Karma had explained his philosophy. He’d started fidgeting with his hands, which Karma interpreted as having a lack of reaction due to his awkwardness. There was no regret from Karma’s side on what he’d just said. At least not yet. He put his hand on Nagisa’s upper leg, hoping it would suggest how serious he was and perhaps even somewhat calm Nagisa down. 

“Okay, second try: you’re saying the  _ body swap  _ means we have to date?” Somehow, Nagisa didn’t seem entirely happy with that conclusion. 

“Not directly, but it definitely gets us closer, doesn’t it?” Karma shrugged. 

Nagisa shook his head, letting out a laugh that basically spoke the words ‘I can’t believe this is happening right now’ and it sort of hurt Karma. Apparently he really didn’t agree with him. It got him wondering what he did think then. 

There was quite an awkward silence, which was the one thing Karma did not want at that moment. Confessing his feelings was hard enough as it was, even if he did it in a little bit of a twisted manner. For Nagisa to just not say anything, it stung. Of course, he needed time to look for words, but it also told Karma he definitely wasn’t going to jump into a relationship with him. 

“What’s got you so sure of the idea that we should date?” Nagisa finally said, looking down at his legs. “Karma, I don’t think that- even  _ if _ we share some similar feelings, it’s not exactly the same. I don’t- I don’t think I can explain it properly, I’m so sorry I just-” 

He didn’t continue his explanation and Karma didn’t try and get him to. If anything, he didn’t want the other to continue because at that moment, he was basically getting rejected. Nagisa might say he felt something, but as Karma looked into his eyes and saw his own eyes very much avoiding locking eyes in discomfort, he knew something was up about this. 

“I’m so sorry,” Nagisa said as he took Karma’s hand, which had moved even higher on his upper leg and seemed to be an entirely different suggestive gesture. He moved said hand and put it in the space between the two of them, even if that space was relatively small. “I just don’t share  _ those _ kind of feelings, even though you might feel those.” 

Karma narrowed his eyes. “What? You have no romantic interest at all then? you could’ve just sa-” 

“No! It’s not- It’s more complicated than that, it isn’t romantic feelings I mean I-” He may have interrupted Karma, but he sure didn’t have his words prepared. Everything in his body language told Karma his reaction was rushed and full of insecurities. “I guess I’m talking about- well, Maybe  _ lust _ is a bit of an extra word that- that really doesn’t describe it well.” 

He stopped talking, which was probably the best thing to do in this situation. Karma wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to think about Nagisa’s words.  _ ‘lust?’ _ It was a word more frequently used to describe a sin rather than a normal feeling teenagers could have. Whatever Nagisa was trying to get at, Karma was hoping he was just formulating it wrong. 

Before Karma could ask him, and probably worsen his own mood in doing so, Nagisa let out a frustrated sigh. Karma’s guess was that this conversation wasn’t going how either of them had wanted it to go. If the other had wanted things to go like this, he’d honestly consider skipping any serious talk with Nagisa ever. 

“Well, what  _ do _ you think the body swap means then?” Karma asked, hoping to at least break the tension a little and perhaps get a decent idea of Nagisa’s thoughts. Sure, it was very plausible this wasn’t about love, but Nagisa didn’t seem like the type of person to think of anything as ‘just because’. 

A thoughtful look crossed Nagisa’s face. “I honestly don’t know. I mean I guess the dreams should explain some of it… maybe something is going to happen and...we’re being warned?” It became clear to Karma that he was just thinking out loud. 

“If we’re being warned, why do we need to be swapping bodies?” There wasn’t really any sceptic tone in his voice, it was genuine curiousity from Karma’s behalf. Unlike the other, he did want to consider the other’s ideas to see if they were valid before judging them. 

His own argument had been a little direct and assuming though, but at the time Karma didn’t consider that seeing as he was feeling a little heartbroken. 

“I don’t know, it got us talking a lot at least but- I don’t know.” That seemed to be the general idea these days. 

Karma was just about done with the conversation. After having Nagisa refer to his actions as feelings of ‘lust’ and rejecting the feelings he had for him, he was ready to go back to Nagisa’s house and avoid Hiromi by moping in bed all day until he could fall asleep and be back in his own body. They weren’t exactly done talking though. 

“It’s all a little weird, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Nagisa’s tone was very reassuring to Karma, and Karma hated that Nagisa could have that effect on him, even without his own body and voice. “We just have to consider what these dreams mean, maybe find a clue in them or something. I mean you had that… code thing in yours, and I had all the noises in mine that might be helpful. If we need an overview- Well I guess Korosensei offered to help and he’s definetely-” 

He was promptly interrupted by Karma taking ahold of his arm and looking at him with what could only be interpreted as anger. “What do you mean Korosensei offered to help?!” Karma realised his voice went to a tone that was in no way nice to the other boy, even saw him shrinking together a little, but he really wasn’t liking what he heard. 

“Well I- I guess Korosensei might kind of… know.” Nagisa dropped the information, not helping Karma’s sudden rage. 

If anything, Karma got more angry. “ _ excuse me? _ Last I remember, we agreed to not tell anyone.” 

Nagisa averted his gaze. Judging by his eyes he definitely felt a little bad, not that Karma cared. In Karma’s opinion, Nagisa should feel that way. “Well it’s not like I  _ meant  _ to tell him!” Nagisa tried to explain himself. “He just found out by himself, I swear!” 

If looks could kill, Nagisa would have had an experience close to falling off the cliff he was currently sitting at. Karma was absolutely  _ pissed _ at him. It was sort of justified, and Nagisa felt bad, But the way Karma said his next words hurt Nagisa even more. 

“You  _ promised _ .” 

\-----------------------------------

The words may have been said with Nagisa’s voice and have come from his body, but the hatred was a hundred percent Karma’s. He spat out the words with a venomous tone and Nagisa felt himself starting to shake in reaction to it. He felt his fingertips go slightly numb and his eyes were starting to feel a little heavy. It took all of his energy for his lip not to quiver or to keep his eyes from tearing up. 

He never wanted Karma to talk like that to him again. 

“You know Nagisa, Maybe you’re right. We never should date.” Karma said, not as hurtful as before, but it definitely still felt to Nagisa like he was being stabbed in the chest. “I mean, I can’t trust you, apparently. And you? Well you’re so uncomfortable talking to me right? I mean why else would you like gossiping about me so much?

Why else would you say I do terrible things to you, apparently, even though you never tell me I do. You know, Nagisa, I may not be the best at communicating, but at least I try. And I definitely wouldn’t do the one thing you asked me not to do.” 

He wasn’t thinking as he spoke, Nagisa did kind of realize. There were an abundance of things Nagisa told him not to do, but he’d never pressed Karma as much as Karma had pressed Nagisa into promising not to tell anyone about what was going on. Karma didn’t trust their teachers, or many adults for that matter. He’d solved his issues before, and he would now, and he would do the same with this issue with Nagisa. 

“... Maybe you’re right.” Nagisa said, and Karma took that as his que to get up and leave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might take a little longer. I really should focus on writing for the bigbang event.  
> It might also not take longer because I have no impulse control. 
> 
> As always, Love and Appreciate all your kudos and comments!


	10. Turning point time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma and Nagisa made things weird, but it sure seems like something is about to happen.

It was hard to pay attention in class with Nagisa’s mind constantly bringing up Karma with any new topic he tried to focus on. He honestly didn’t want to, but the way the two of them left things definitely wasn’t right. Neither of them seemed to be in a particularly good mood at all that day. Nagisa couldn’t speak for the other, but at the very least  _ his _ mood got affected by their argument. 

He had meant most of what he’d said. There definitely was a difference between the way he felt about their relationship and the way Karma did. The real problem was the way he’d formulated it, that was horrible at best. 

‘Lust’, why’d he even use that word?!

Perhaps he should have gone for something along the lines of: “I don’t feel certain physical feelings.” No that- That sounded like he had a bodily defect or something, that was bad. Perhaps he should talk about how he didn’t have certain feelings. But then, that might sound like he’s just emotionally unstable, and he was at least 65% sure he was stable enough in that particular field. There were so many ways to phrase it, but he felt his own choice of words just kept making it sound like there was something wrong with him. 

He remembered the words Ritsu had used to describe it at first. They were factual, straight to the point, and very clear to anyone who heard them. Perhaps he should have been like that too, factual. However, what he and Karma had didn’t feel factual, it barely made sense. 

Back when he’d first considered things, he’d told Kayano, of course. She was possibly his most supportive friend, at least in that field, because Sugino was just slightly oblivious to topics such as these. Nagisa just felt Sugino wouldn’t be able to understand it that well, nor would he be able to talk about a topic like that without getting awkward. Kayano was perfect for this one conversation. 

Before he got the time to properly register it, the next class started, and Nagisa felt completely out of it. He had no idea what had been going on all day and was pretty sure that if anyone asked him a question now he'd have to answer with an awkward laugh and an apology. Even after he finally managed to catch on what class was happening he cursed Karma for being on his mind so much. 

For a moment he just stared ahead of himself, trying to take in the information Korosensei was giving them. He had to admit, not much entered his mind and he was barely aware of what he was doing the entire time. He didn’t want what happened with Karma to affect him so much, but honestly, his school performance was suffering. If his own confused state wasn’t enough, his lack of proper notes were the evidence for it. 

He finally looked down at said notes and felt his entire face heat up like crazy. His own eyes grew wide as he found himself looking at a drawing he’d made in his notebook, without ever intending to. As soon as he fully comprehended it he moved his hand to cover it with much more speed than he thought he had. 

Frantically, he looked around, hoping no one had happened to take a peek in his notebook. Still keeping an eye on the people around him, he carefully lifted his hand to once again inspect what he’d drawn. He felt awkward looking at it. 

There, in his notebook, were two drawn hands, tied together. In a sense, it could be rather innocent, but not even Nagisa was oblivious enough to not know what something like that could also be for. The way the hands were turn, the knot was fully visible to Nagisa, and he had to admire that, for his doing, it was drawn oddly well. He drew a bit, now and then, but this was better than he was used to. 

And he didn’t even remember drawing it. 

He noticed Korosensei walking around, now at Sugaya’s table, and managed to quickly flip the page before his teacher could see it. Sure, his teacher would probably believe him if he explained, but he’d much rather avoid the confrontation entirely. By the time Korosensei had reached his desk, the coast was safe. There was an entirely different issue, however. 

“Nagisa,” Korosensei sounded a bit concerned as he spoke. “There’s nothing on your page? You do realize this assignment is graded?” 

Nagisa looked down at his page in panic, then at the board to see if he could figure out what on earth was going on. He really hadn’t heard Korosensei say they were supposed to work on an assignment. Past Korosensei he saw Kayano looking at him worriedly, and he started to feel really bad. 

“c-could you perhaps explain it again?” He finally managed to ask. 

\---------------------------------

Karma was in such a bad mood, he decided he’d skip the next school day entirely. Going to school would mean seeing Nagisa, which wasn’t exactly something he was looking forward to anymore. It also meant seeing Korosensei, who, now, apparently was aware of their situation. Karma didn’t feel the need to be babied by his teacher over what was going on. 

He probably wouldn’t get into trouble. With Korosensei kind of getting the situation he could probably bullshit together a story on how he wasn’t feeling very well. He was sure the words ‘just going through a lot’ would have enough of an effect on his teacher, and he wasn’t afraid to use them. 

If he were honest with himself, he knew he didn’t really want to stay at home, because he wasn’t sure what to do there and was pretty convinced that everything sucked. He got as far as laying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling, feeling an ache in his stomach. Laying there like that only reminded him of how he’d laid there with Nagisa before. 

He felt nostalgic for that moment, just wished he could go back to that. Somehow things had been so much easier before, when he hadn’t confessed his feelings and Nagisa hadn’t fully rejected him. He’d acted so weird about it too. And then it only got worse, because he ended up portraying his trust too. 

Some crush he decided to have. 

With a sigh he turned to his side, the sight of the ceiling only filling him with memories he really didn’t want to have. He made an attempt to distract himself, thinking about anything  _ but _ Nagisa, but his mind kept returning to the sight of that blue hair every time. If it wasn’t his hair, it was his eyes, or the memory of holding his hand. Luckily, he didn’t really need to to distract himself for very long, because somewhere in the time he laid there, he fell asleep. 

\---------------------------------

That Thursday, Nagisa arrived at school as Karma, and immediately got to deal with Terasaka confronting him. If it was up to Nagisa, he would have avoided it by stealthing around him and moving to his seat, but it was a little hard to avoid when Terasaka basically sat next to him. 

“Watcha doing there, Karma?” Terasaka’s clearly teasing tone said from his right. “You were gone the entire day, figured you quit. Nearly held a party!” 

Nagisa let out an awkward sigh. Things were bad enough as they were, and now he had to somehow think of something to say to this too. Truth was, he didn’t have anything. All he could do was stand there and look at Terasaka as his mind raced to find some kind of decent comeback. 

“Pack the balloons away, Yoshida.” Laughter was audible in Terasaka’s voice as he jokingly turned to his friend. Said friend looked up sheepishly, barely aware of what was going on. He just gave Terasaka a confused, but supportive, thumbs up. 

When Terasaka turned his head to look at Nagisa again, Nagisa was ready to shrink together. He had to say  _ something _ . If he made Karma look ridiculous like that he would  _ never _ forgive him. Karma was mad enough at him as it was. The last thing he could use was another reason for Karma to hate him. 

As if on cue, the saviour of this conversation entered the playing field. Oddly enough, the saviour came in the form of Nagisa, or, well, Nagisa’s body at the very least. 

“What? Were you gonna celebrate how much more you could bring down the class average?” Karma, in Nagisa’s body, raised an eyebrow at Terasaka as he walked by. “Or maybe you intended to bring down the average prettiness of this class, rather than the grades?” 

He sounded a little unimpressed with the situation, but his comment hit. Judging by the look on Terasaka’s face, he was plenty annoyed about it, yet also seemingly surprised. HE probably hadn’t expected a comment like that from Nagisa. But then, it technically didn’t come from him. Not that Terasaka could have known about that, he was just left stunned. 

In a moment of absent-mindedness, Nagisa turned around to look at Karma walking away from him. He wasn’t entirely sure why he thought he’d do it, he knew there was absolutely no reason for Karma to even want to talk to him. Perhaps he was just a little hopeful. 

“Ka- Nagisa!” He called, nearly using the wrong name, but his friend didn’t turn around. So, Nagisa was left standing there, more than a little awkward as people had now started to look at him. 

He was too distracted to make a comment at Terasaka too and, before he got to realize he probably should, his teacher announced class was starting. As he sat down at Karma’s desk he felt regret come over him. He really should have said something, defended Karma’s honour like that. If he could, he would have hit himself, but he’d just be hitting Karma’s body  _ and _ look like an idiot in class. 

In his head he kept going over the situation, trying to find what would have been the perfect comeback. Maybe he should have commented on Terasaka’s intelligence? That did seem to be Karma’s go-to tactic. But then, he would have needed to also put it in a comment that made sense with the comment proceeding it. 

Were conversations supposed to be this hard? He was usually pretty decent at talking to people. He couldn’t believe he had such a hard time with this, and after all that time practicing his Karma impression in front of the mirror, too! 

_ ‘bet you’d miss me’ _ No, that was a stupid comment. And what does it even mean? He didn’t want it to sound like Karma and Terasaka were  _ dating _ . The thought of the two of them dating sent shivers down Nagisa’s spine. That just wasn’t right, plus, he really didn’t like the idea of Karma dating anyone… 

Bitch Sensei’s class on English conditionals completely went over his head as another comeback came to his mind.  _ ‘don’t worry Terasaka, don’t cancel your party! if you die right now there will still be something to celebrate.’  _ Nagisa went over the sentence again in his mind, critically trying to analyse what he’d just said in his own head. 

It was morbid… but kind of funny. 

After class he managed to finish the assignment they were given, only a few seconds after it had been announced class had ended, and he got up to hand it in, which Karma had apparently just done too. The two of them bumped into each other as Karma turned around to walk back to Nagisa’s seat and Nagisa managed to not fall backwards by grabbing a hold of the two desks behind him right there. Luckily, Karma was swift to regain his balance too, and the two were left there facing each other. 

Both of them just stared at the other, not really saying anything. Nagisa wanted to say something, sure, the silence was unbearable to him and just made him more uncomfortable with the second. There wasn’t much to say, however. 

Eventually Karma let out an uncomfortable laugh and he pushed past Nagisa. For a moment Nagisa remained standing there, not yet ready to continue his path, but the moment Karma had been gone for a few seconds, he realized he should really get out of the way for people. 

\----------------------------

Karma opened the texting app on Nagisa’s phone, currently his, seeing as he was Nagisa that day. There wasn’t much in their chat history anymore, seeing as it had been sort of quiet for a bit now. When he checked the date on the last message his thoughts were confirmed, he and Nagisa hadn’t talked in over a week. 

He sighed and fell back slightly on Nagisa’s couch, not sure what exactly he was about to do with that information. After having been down for so many days he was kind of over it. If this body swap would just end, so would his troubles. Sure, things would suck, but at least avoiding thinking about Nagisa would be easier if he didn’t have to _be_ _him_ every other day. 

Right when he figured he’d reached the lowest point of his day, Shiota Hiromi found her cue to join in on the fun, obviously ready to start a conversation with her son. She didn’t wait for him to initiate anything or say much back as she started her speech, obviously having a point to get to. Karma tried to listen to all she was saying, but most of it was useless to him. Sort of manipulative sounding, actually. 

“Luckily, that dinner we talked about is still happening!” She happily announced. “A bit last minute, but it’s the day after tomorrow.” 

Karma took a moment to let that sink in. Today he was Nagisa, which meant tomorrow he was himself again. But, then, the day after tomorrow…  _ he _ was Nagisa again. He didn’t want to go on this dinner with Nagisa’s mother, it seemed extremely important to her and, knowing him, he’d completely ruin it. 

As much as he hated Nagisa at that moment, he couldn’t piss his mother off much more. If this dinner was that important, it really was better if Nagisa was there for it, even if he hadn’t seemed entirely enthusiastic about it either. Karma decided he may still care about Nagisa a little, as he attempted to save this dinner thing. 

“I- that’s really not that… convenient.” He tried to say as innocently as possible. Nagisa would sound like that, cute and innocent and probably directing the conversation to a school related topic. “We’re doing these- I have a test, it’s kind of important that-” 

“So, study for it now. You need to plan better.” Hiromi said, her tone of voice changing in a subtle manner, but Karma didn’t entirely get that. 

“No, I mean- It’s really important and this is- this is sort of sudden?” He attempted to explain, still not noticing the change of Hiromi’s demeanor. “Can’t you move it to another day?” 

Before he knew it, Hiromi’s hand was in Nagisa’s blue locks and he felt an aching feeling as she gripped his hairs tightly. She yelled some words that he barely managed to register with what was going on. She was mad. Apparently this dinner could not be moved and he was ungrateful. 

Man, Karma hated this woman. 

The next day at school, he figured he should probably tell Nagisa about the dinner. He didn’t exactly want to discuss the way his mother had gotten to him, that felt weirdly personal to discuss. Besides, it didn’t matter. The most important fact was that this dinner was happening and Nagisa would probably need to know about it, seeing as he’d have to deal with the consequences. 

“Nagisa,” He stood in front of Nagisa, who was just rummaging through his bag at his table, early as per usual. The other boy looked up, big confused eyes now reflecting Karma’s. Karma hated that short moment where he realized just how pretty those blue eyes of his were. “Your mother’s dinner is moved to tomorrow.” 

He brought him the news, which meant his duty was done. As if on autopilot, he turned around, ready to walk away from the conversation. A shiver went through his entire body when he suddenly had to stop as Nagisa had appeared in front of him  _ out of nowhere _ . Karma looked around confused, wondering how he’d even gotten there so fast. 

“What do you mean it’s tomorrow?” Nagisa asked. “I’m not me tomorrow.” 

In any other situation that would sound weird, but Karma got the sentiment. He just shrugged as a reaction, he didn’t feel like having an actual conversation. This didn’t seem to please Nagisa much, however. If anything, he looked annoyed. 

“W-well you can’t go.” Nagisa managed to say. 

“No kidding, I tried to tell your mother that.” He rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t really take no as an answer.” 

Nagisa wasn’t able to argue with that, he knew his mother better than anyone else. However, he didn’t seem ready to give in to the idea of this happening so easily either, much to Karma’s annoyance. 

“Well, we should go over what to do and stuff,” Nagisa suggested. “I can tell you what kind of stuff to say and when to, you know,  _ not talk _ . Most of it is not talking, really, just when they ask you questions and stuff. Maybe we should go over answers so you know what they like to hear when-” 

Karma honestly didn’t care that much. Without saying anything else or listening to what Nagisa was saying, he turned around with a yawn. He made his way over to the door, ready to skip the first period, maybe even second. That sure interrupted Nagisa’s speech. 

Even as he left the classroom he just shut out Nagisa’s vocal complaints and, just to make a point, shut the door extra loud. That was sure to get him to stop, maybe even let Karma alone for a bit. He’d deal with this whole situation later. For now, he really was craving some strawberry milk. 

\------------------------------------

Nagisa had officially had enough. Not just of the entire Karma situation, but also with all the stupid ominous stuff he’d been encountering. Because nearly getting hit by a car that morning was shitty, but the fact that he’d only started to progressively draw more weird things in his notebook had really started to get to him. 

It didn’t just limit itself to drawing actually, as if random patterns he’d drawn in combination with even more weird sketches of tied hands weren’t enough, he’d started writing down numbers, too. All of that was just becoming a little too much for Nagisa, and he wasn’t sure if it was something he’d want to talk about to Korosensei either. 

He didn’t want to betray Karma’s trust anymore and, though he knew this could very well have nothing to do with Karma, telling Korosensei might do just that. Basically, he was stuck at a crossroad and his only solution was to bottle everything up. 

That didn’t seem like a very healthy option. 

And only once he got to school he finally understood why his mother had started talking about those dinner plans again. He supposed he should be happy Karma told him at all, and also that it wasn’t just via text. Still, he’d much rather discuss the situation, considering Karma would be the one to have to get through it somehow. Nagisa had no idea how he was supposed to do that, judging by his previous experiences with being introduced to people by his mother. There sure were a lot of things to keep in mind. 

Not that that mattered, it wasn’t happening. Karma would be going to that dinner and Nagisa would suffer the consequences. Technically Karma would experience the immediate consequences, now  _ that _ would spark a conversation. That was, if they even talked by then. The answer to that was probably a ‘no’. 

He did spend quite some time thinking about his and Karma’s argument, because he  _ hated it _ so much. Maybe, just maybe, there was some truth in Karma’s words, and there was some destiny induced reason for everything that had happened to them. 

Was it love? Or was that just something from a dream? 

For a moment he just remained sitting behind his desk, pondering over everything, considering if, perhaps, love was just to trivial of a reason. The signs he’d been given should probably tell him something, but honestly, he hoped they  _ didn’t _ . The thought of tied hands having anything to do with him and Karma was… scary, to say the least. 

Suddenly, he jumps up from his seat, scared by a loud bang sounding through the classroom. He isn’t sure why, but something about it scared him, made him feel a familiar fear. Yet, he couldn’t exactly place what it was. 

When he looked at the front of the classroom he identified the cause of the noise. Nakamura had a gun in her hand, pointed up at a space where currently no one stood. Judging by the way Korosensei appeared behind her, his face portraying green and yellow striped, Nagisa could figure out who she was trying to shoot at. 

Everyone moved on from the assassination attempt, but something kept bothering Nagisa. The sound of the gun echoed in his head as he watched Korosensei move. Of course, he wasn’t hit. 

\---------------------------------

During class he figured he was ready to talk to Karma, even if Karma wasn’t. He didn’t like confrontation, that much was clear, but if  _ he _ didn’t step forward, nothing would happen. Especially considering some if this really was his own fault. 

He tries to approach Karma, during lunch break, but Karma leaves the classroom before he even can, no doubt ready to skip the rest of the day. Holding in his breath as he opens the door, he follows Karma outside, only to find he is out of view already. Great, he’d have to find a way to find him first. He could have waited until the next day and talk then, but something told Nagisa today was the day. 

And so he made his way down the mountain. As creepy as it may sound, he knew which route Karma usually took to get down the mountain. For some reason he prefered the rougher terrain, maybe because no one else really wanted to take it and he’d be alone that way. Or, maybe, he really did just like to challenge himself. Both options sounded enough like Karma to him. 

Just as he climbed over a particularly annoyingly placed log he felt a hand on his back and he was pushed forwards, causing him to fall off the log. He wanted to panic, not knowing who on earth had just  _ basically  _ attacked him and only basing his reaction on the dread he’d been feeling all day. However, when he looked up, he let out a relieved, yet annoyed, sigh. 

“Karma,” He complained. “You scared me.” 

Said boy jumped over the log and put his hands in his pockets as he stood over Nagisa, making no effort to help him get up. “well, maybe you shouldn’t follow people around then.” Karma squinted at him and Nagisa couldn’t help but feel caught red handed. Technically, he had been. 

Seeing as Karma wasn’t going to help him, obviously, he got up by himself, dusting off his pants to clear any dirt that had gotten on them. Now, he needed to start talking. The problem was that he wasn’t sure where to begin, so he just stood there, awkwardly staring at Karma. He must have looked immensely stupid and guilty, looking up at his friend like that. 

“I just- I-I wanted to talk to you.” He finally managed to say. It only earned him an eyeroll and Karma started to walk past him, clearly not in the mood to talk to Nagisa. Nagisa wouldn’t let that happen, however. 

Nagisa reacted lightning fast, grabbing Karma’s wrist out of seemingly nowhere. Normally speaking, Nagisa wouldn’t be nearly strong enough to stop Akabane Karma, of all people, with physical force. However, the suddenness of his movement and Nagisa’s barely identified skills as an assassin had caught him off guard and Karma was left slightly stunned. Nagisa got a chance to talk to him then, and he was going to take it. 

“Please, just- just talk this out with me. I said some really stupid stuff and I-I worded it so, so badly. I didn’t even mean most of it I-” He pleaded, feeling a little weak doing so, but this was the way his emotions were coming out. “We have to talk about things!” 

Karma’s head jerked and Nagisa felt slightly intimidated by the glare that was sent to him. So much so, that he let go of Karma’s wrist. The other boy immediately took that opportunity to pull his arm away from him. Nagisa would have loved to say something again, but he didn’t get the chance to continue. 

“ _ You don’t even talk _ ! You sure like saying friends talk about their problems and all that, but you don’t share your own things at all!” Nagisa wanted to refute him, but Karma continued before he even could. “And don’t tell me it’s not true, I’ve been parttime living your life, Nagisa. I talk to your mother… as much as her behaviour could be considered  _ talking. _ ” 

A sickening feeling came over Nagisa and he looked away from Karma. The thought of Karma experiencing his mother was horrible to him, and so was the general thought of people knowing, too. Things were… complicated. He didn’t like people worrying about him, and he didn’t want them to think bad of his mother either, even with the things she does to him. 

“I’m- I’m sorry, that was a bit much,” Karma showed a concerned look on his face as he let out the uncomfortable apology. At least he seemed to feel bad about it. “But it’s still true-” 

“No, I know.” Nagisa shook his head, waving off the topic entirely. “I… may have been a bit hypocritical on that, but that doesn’t change that I want to improve  _ this _ situation. We could at the very least solve what we are experiencing now.” 

Even though he said it, neither of them said anything after that for a few seconds. The look on Karma’s face told Nagisa he was thinking it over. Nagisa understood that, Karma  _ was _ really upset over things. He just hoped he’d had enough time by now. 

Instead of talking, Karma walked away, surprising Nagisa entirely. Nagisa needed some time to keep up with what was going on before he realized he should  _ probably _ walk after him. He did so, calling for him to wait, but the other boy relentlessly moved forwards with speed, having the advantage of having longer legs than Nagisa. 

“I doubt you  _ actually _ want to discuss what happened during that conversation.” Karma called, not turning around to show Nagisa his face. 

“I  _ do, _ ” He let out between two breaths. Walking that rough path, trying to keep up with Karma, and trying to talk wasn’t easy on him. “I’ve been telling you I feel bad about what I said and I- ugh- I didn’t mean to dismiss your feelings or anything. Like I said, I worried it very bad-badly.” 

Much to his annoyance Karma didn’t stop. Nagisa was pretty sure they’d nearly reached the bottom of the mountain by the time he finally answered him again. 

“You know, I basically confessed to you, and not in a joking manner or anything.” A clearly upset Karma finally said. “You didn’t just  _ reject _ me, you called it lust and- and I don’t even know what to think of that.” 

The trees got thinner and through them Nagisa could see the streets of kunugigaoka Soon enough they’d left the school grounds, having crossed the streets already, with Nagisa panting frantically behind Karma. Karma really had to stop walking. He didn’t exactly want to run through town, yelling as he tried to follow Karma, while everyone could just listen in on their conversation. 

“Would you  _ stop!”  _ Right after he said it he realized how forceful it had sounded, perhaps even scary. It had intimidated Karma enough for him to actually stop, at the very least. If this was what his weird creepy talent could achieve, Nagisa didn’t really mind it for once. 

“I don’t know why I said those things,” Nagisa sighed, very much tired from the way he’d just followed his friend around. “I don’t- I don’t know how I feel. There’s  _ something _ there I just- I do lo-” 

He stopped himself. He couldn’t say that, not yet. It just wasn’t right.  _ He  _ wasn’t right, not for Karma. The hesitation Nagisa was showing didn’t seem to please Karma very much. The face he was showing made Nagisa pity Karma, he didn’t need to go through that. Well, it wasn’t like he could convince Karma to change his feelings, as much as that would make things easier. 

Karma let out a soft “whatever”, but it didn’t sound very convincing to Nagisa. Why did they have to make things so complicated? 

“So, are you going to apologize for telling Korosensei?” Karma asked, crossing his arms as he talked. 

“I did say sorry… multiple times.” Nagisa awkwardly said. 

“Oh.” 

“So… do you forgive me then?” 

Karma took a moment to think, the process clearly showing on his face. Then, he pursed his lips, a conclusion having come to him. “no.” 

Nagisa wanted to throw his hands in the air in desperation. “Oh  _ come on _ !” 

He wasn’t sure what else he could do at this point. Maybe Karma just didn’t want to forgive him and this was where it ended. It was sad but… It truly seemed like Nagisa couldn’t do anything right. He decided he’d just go back to the classroom, not wanting to actually skip class. 

Just as he went to cross the road he feet someone grab unto his wrist. For reasons unclear to Nagisa, Karma stopped him from walking and looked past him with a concerned look on his face. Nagisa looked at him, confused. 

“Let go.” He demanded, but Karma wasn’t listening to him. Instead, he ever so slightly squinted his eyes as he kept his look on something farther away. 

“Do you remember the numbers from my dream?” Karma asked. 

“What are you on about I- Let go of me!” He ripped his arm away from Karma and started to speed walk away from him, slightly frightened by the way Karma had been acting. He was unsure if he really wanted to keep talking to him at this point. 

If Karma wanted to act all weird and not have a proper conversation with him, he’d give up trying. This wasn’t just about getting back to class anymore. Barely aware of his surroundings he crossed the street, back to the mountain, where he was sure to not see Karma for at least the remainder of the day. 

When he was just about halfway across the street he heard Karma yell his name, and not in the same tone as he had before. Rather, it sounded scared. When Nagisa stopped and turned around his face portrayed the same, as Karma was staring him straight in the eye looking completely scared of… who knows what. 

Nagisa was frozen, at first, as he tried to work through what on earth that meant, when suddenly a car sped past him, nearly hitting him if he hadn’t jumped out of the way just in time. Mentally he cursed himself for how that was the second time that happened that day, but his mindset was abruptly switched as he felt a sense of deja vu come over him. 

It all happened before. He looked up at the car which had now stopped, only meters away from him, when a man suddenly jumped out of the car with ease. Nagisa’s gaze immediately went to the man’s right hand, where he was holding a gun. 

The numbers from Karma’s dreams, he recognized them from a quick glance to match the license plate. And the letters must have been lost in translation. It all made sense, the street tiles from his dream, the car nearly hitting him… so he truly did have a precognitive dream? There was one other issue in his dream that needed to be addressed, one he was also seeing right in front of him in that millisecond he got to react to everything. The gun sound. 

Nagisa thanked whatever deity there was for his training and the warnings he got beforehand, because the moment the gun was pointed at him he knew  _ exactly _ how to dodge. The bang he heard was loud and kept ringing in his ear as he rolled away and felt a moment of dissociation after it happened. 

When he looked back up everything was too chaotic for him. A flash of red hair entering the car, the man making a move forward, no doubt to attack Nagisa. As if on instinct, Nagisa lunged first, using a technique he’d learnt from Karasuma sensei to disarm the man from his gun. He twisted the man’s wrist like that and his technique worked, but even without the gun he easily overpowered Nagisa. 

Nagisa felt his body fall back on the floor and when he moved to get up saw the man had jumped back into the car and it had driven off. Looking around the street it didn’t take long for Nagisa to realize what had just happened to Karma. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter, I'll be honest about that. It's been finished for ages now but i was way too reluctant to post it. I hope people still care about this fic, i'm way more happy with how the next chapter is coming along. 
> 
> by the way the hiatus was because i had to write my bigbang fic (Movement Never Lies, a dance academy au! read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25793557/chapters/62650429 ) and then because I was kind of stuck and perhaps burned out after getting otu a 20k fic in a little time. 
> 
> till next chapter, or till I post the first chap of another fic i've been secretly writing :)
> 
> ALSO, join the karmagisa server! we have writers and artists and just a lot of fun! we talk about some other stuff too and play games and stuff so :) I'f you wanna discuss your ship there, come in!  
> https://discord.gg/V6hnSgB


	11. rescue time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa has no time to think about how much he fucked up as he and the E-class try to find a way to rescue Karma. It appears the body swap may be useful after all.

There had been many occasions in Nagisa’s life where adrenaline had taken over his body. Tragically enough, many of those occurrences were in his own home or an environment where he shouldn’t have to feel like all the blood in his veins was pumping at ten times its speed so Nagisa could use his fight or flight instincts. 

Right then, he was running. Time passed without Nagisa giving much notice to it. All he registered were the trees of the 3E mountain passing him as he made his way up, his destination the classroom. He couldn’t think about what had just happened, not longer than he’d already had. He needed to tell his teacher, Korosensei. He would know what to do, like he always did. 

At least, Nagisa hoped so. 

The moment he ran into the classroom Korosensei was by his side within seconds. Nagisa realized he must look worrisome, out of breath and an overall mess from running through the woods without much regard for his surroundings. He figured a few branches must have hit him, or that his hair will be slightly messier. Not that that was his priority. 

He started talking, words spilling out of his mouth while not taking into account the pace at which he did so. Korosensei didn’t stop him, merely stabilized the boy’s stance, using his tentacles to keep him standing. In hindsight Nagisa really appreciated that gesture, though he may not have noticed it in the moment, chances were he would have fallen if he hadn’t. 

“a  _ gun? _ ” Korosensei asked, trying to confirm if he heard Nagisa’s words well enough. “And the car it-” 

“Drove away,” Nagisa managed to finish, a deep breath escaping his lips as he spoke the words. “ _ With _ Karma, I- I couldnt- I couldn’t even d-do anything!” 

He must have been talking pretty loudly because the moment the story was out of his mouth he noticed the students that were still in the classroom were looking at him in shock. No one really said anything, they probably didn’t know what to say. Their class had been in situations before, but things like this were always a little hard. Nagisa turned his head to look at his teacher again, a pleading look in his eyes, hoping he would tell them what to do next. 

“Kataoka, Isogai, get Irina and Mr. Karasuma,” Korosensei ordered the two students, who immediately left to do as told. “Maehara, get everyone else back in the classroom. The rest of you… stay here and wait, we’ll go over all of this together.” 

\------------------------------------

A text, that was the only information they’d received from Karma’s kidnappers. It had been sent in the groupchat, making clear to everyone that this was in fact an E-class related issue. This also meant the entire class was involved, whether they wanted to or not. But then, with the message they’d gotten, they were sure to want to help too. 

“They’re telling us to trade Korosensei for Karma?” Terasaka said, reading the message from his phone. 

Everyone looked at Korosensei, expecting him to say something about that. Sure, Korosensei would do anything for his students, but the entire class knew from experience hostage situations weren’t that simple. Just that summer they’d had to deal with the whole return of Takaoka. Thinking about that still sent shivers down Nagisa’s spine, and gave him more fear for their current situation. 

He really hoped Karma was doing okay. Well, as okay as one can be when kidnapped. Even Karma would probably be scared in his situation, confused the very least. Nagisa felt something sting in his chest at the thought of Karma getting hurt. He shouldn’t have fought with him, not over something so stupid. If he hadn’t been so dramatic, they wouldn’t have been so surprised by the car or… or even been at that street. 

It physically hurt to know he could have prevented this from happening. And on top of that, all the signs were mixed up. The gun hadn’t been aimed at Karma, the car hadn’t stopped in front of him, and he clearly hadn’t been the one the man had focussed on. Karma hadn’t been their target, Nagisa was. 

He decided to not share that detail with the class. 

Nagisa perked up at the sudden loud noises echoing through the classroom. An uproar was happening, clearly people were upset. They had every right to be. And Korosensei wasn’t saying much, he and Karasuma appeared to be thinking deeply as they remained looking at the message. Mrs. Bitch was just looking around the class, keeping an eye on the students. Nagisa sensed she was listening, though. 

“twenty-four hours,” Karasuma mumbled. “From the moment the message was sent. and this building, I can’t say I know this to even be used. Ritsu, can you find it?” 

The digital girl gave him a sincere nod, before turning her main screen black as she went to do, what Nagisa assumed to be, her research. Most likely she’ll find the building and it’s blueprints. Nagisa figured they could somehow plan an infiltration on the building, though, twenty-four hours was not a lot of time to prepare. 

His class seemed to think the same. Everyone was arguing plans on how to save Karma, most immediately refuted by another student because it overlooked some obvious fact. It was a little depressing, and even more sad that this feeling was almost familiar to Nagisa now. Their class had gotten into so many dangerous or weird situations, his and Karma’s-

_ oh _

He stood up, faster than he’d planned in his head, and immediately turned to Korosensei, who noticed Nagisa’s sudden change of demeanor. Korosensei turned to him, and all around him people did the same. Nagisa wasn’t that bothered by that, he just couldn’t believe he’d  _ forgotten about that _ . 

“The body swap!” Nagisa said. 

Korosensei’s face seemed to light up slightly, probably now remembering that too. The rest of the class didn’t feel that bright moment, however. Honestly, most looked at him with concern on their faces, or at the very least confusion. 

“I, well- it’s- this is going to sound a little weird but…” Nagisa tried to say, but he wasn’t sure where exactly he’d begin. “Me and Karma have uh- been switching… bodies…” 

The confusion people had been portraying wasn’t disappearing just yet. Nagisa figured that was normal, what he was saying  _ was _ really weird, even to a class with a seemingly immortal octopus teacher with mach 20 speed. He and Karma had felt the same about it when it had all begun. They hadn’t been sure why they were switching, or what the use of it was, but Nagisa was starting to see some use now. 

“We don’t really know why it’s been happening either, but-” Nagisa continued, his tone hurried and the words in his brain not entirely coherent. “We’ve been switching bodies every other day. Just… Randomly started waking up in each other’s bodies one day and- well I mean we’ve, or, well,  _ I  _ have only told Korosensei about it. 

Not that we really know how or why that is possible. I just think, well, this might be the solution to this problem.  _ I _ will be Karma tomorrow, after all.” 

At first, there was some silence. Nagisa looked up, awkwardly, awaiting what his fellow students had to say. He was sure they thought he was going crazy. Perhaps they thought this was Nagisa’s brain in stress mode, even more so than usual. However, he had involved Korosensei, saying he knew. Surely his fellow students must realize this wasn’t him going nuts. 

“Wait so,” Terasaka got up from the table he was sitting on and walked towards Nagisa, a glare on his face. “Please tell me all the sass you’ve been giving me was Karma, then?” 

That...wasn’t what Nagisa had been expecting. 

“Uh, yeah, it was” He answered. And with a whisper he added: “I may have said some things, too, as Karma, though.” 

A noise from beside him made him turn his head. He hadn’t immedietly recognized it, but he saw Hazama, holding a hand in front of her mouth, visibly holding back a laugh that would have indeed been slightly inappropriate for the situation. Apparently, she had heard him. 

When he returned his look to his teachers, he saw Mr. Karasuma deep in thought, probably still considering the situation. On top of processing yet another kidnapping, he now had to deal with the odd information Nagisa had just given him. So, Nagisa turned to Korosensei, knowing very well he knew exactly what kind of plan Nagisa had in mind. 

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up in Karma’s body,” He spoke, tone serious and to the point. “If we figure out enough about the location they’re holding him and find out the route inside the building, you guys could infiltrate from the outside while  _ I  _ escape from within.” 

It seemed like a decent plan. Sure, the timeline was a little tight, but he could probably remember the route very well. Sneaking about definitely wasn’t an issue, with all the training he’d had with his class in the past months. There really was only one problem. 

“We don’t know anything about their defenses,” Karasuma looked Nagisa in the eye as he spoke, his words turning Nagisa’s slightly hopeful look more into a frown. “That will be a disadvantage at the very least. If you try to sneak out, these people might not hold back and I don’t want to find out what happens if you as Karma- well, you understand.” 

He did understand. A certain fear overcame Nagisa, because this was in fact a query of his that had gone unanswered so far. Not that he wanted to find out, obviously. He didn’t want Karma to get hurt, but he also didn’t want to get hurt while he was Karma. 

Not that he had much of a choice about whose body he’d be in the next day. 

What they needed was more information, which was usually where Ritsu came in. And, as if on cue, her screen turned on and revealed the bright purple of Ritsu’s hair framing a worried looking face. For an AI she sure knew a lot of empathy. Nagisa was sure she wanted to help get Karma out as much as the rest of their class did. 

“I found all the usual information: blueprints, ownership documents, and general information on the man whose name the building is currently on,” Ritsu announced. “However, he appears in no other records.” 

“Probably a cover up,” Karasuma nodded, as if he had already been expecting that. “Pull up the blueprints, we can try to check it out to see how far we can get on a plan and base our decision on that.” 

Ritsu did just that, revealing a floorplan of the building’s first floor. Most of it appeared to be puzzling hallways or storage rooms, no room really standing out as the one they would most likely be keeping Karma in. That thought saddened Nagisa quite a bit. Surely, his plan must be somewhat possible? 

With a sigh he stepped closer too, wanting to help any way he could. All the adrenaline from before had left his body and he felt his entire body was worn down and ready to plop down just about anywhere. His body remained leaning against a desk as his eyes scanned Ritsu’s screen, trying to find any logic in the pattern the hallway was showing them. 

Something hit him, a sense of deja vu. His body moved forwards slightly as he tried to look at the pattern in front of him. It really did look like a pattern, rather than a floorplan, and a familiar one at that. Perhaps it was a bit of a stretch, but Nagisa needed to check his notes. 

Not his notes on Korosensei, the notes he took during class. Though, as of lately it sure had been a lot more than just notes. The drawings and weird notes he’d been making, there had been something peculiar in there. Something even more peculiar than just the fact that he was putting down things he wasn’t even aware of. 

He moved to his desk in a hurry and scrambled to grab his notebook. Upon opening it, it didn’t take long for him to find what he was looking for. A strange pattern he’d drawn a few days ago, consisting of interrupted lines forming some kind of maze with squares in between. 

He held up the notebook in front of his face and then lifted it down to see Ritsu’s screen portraying the exact same pattern. 

“We’ve been getting hints.” Nagisa said out loud. 

Once again a silence fell. Usually, it would bother Nagisa more, but the revelation that was hitting him was too overwhelming and, honestly, a little bit much. To Nagisa, this body swap thing was starting to feel like a puzzle, and he had to somehow give everyone else the pieces he’d been given. 

“Right so,” Sugino suddenly stood behind Nagisa, putting an arm on Nagisa’s shoulder and giving him a concerned look. “I don’t think we...understand.” 

Nagisa showed him the notebook and, surely enough, when Sugino looked up at Ritsu’s screen again the realization appeared on his face too. Mrs. Bitch took the notebook from him next, and looked at the same. After doing so she turned to Mr. Karasuma and told him: “I don’t think he’s going crazy, this actually matches up.” 

“That’s… this is getting weirder by the second.” Karasuma replied, brows furrowed. 

“Just wait until you hear about these weird dreams we had.” Nagisa awkwardly let out. 

Mr. Karasuma turned to him, his expression and demeanor telling Nagisa he was  _ way _ out of his comfort zone. Not that Nagisa could blame him, at least Nagisa had had several weeks to get used to all this switching stuff. For everyone else in his class, all of it just came at once. 

“What do you mean  _ dreams _ ?” 

\----------------------------------------------

Nagisa had been assigned to figure out his notes together with Sugino and Mrs. Bitch. So far all of his notes hadn’t said much, most being random individual drawings that appeared to be almost meaningless, or combinations of letters and numbers. They spent most of their time studying a page only to sigh and continue to the next page, hoping  _ that _ page would have something that made sense. There was not much enthusiasm about the notes’ usefulness by the time they turned to a page full of drawings. 

Within a second, Nagisa recognized the page, considering it even stood out to him a lot right after he’d drawn all of it. He wanted to skip to the next page, ignore everything largely sketched there and  _ never _ be associated with it. The page was filled with pen drawings of tied up hands. 

“Damn, Nagisa,” Mrs. Bitch said, leaning into the page with a smirk on her face. “Didn’t think  _ you  _ would be into this kind of stuff.” 

A few beginnings of words escaped Nagisa’s mouth as he tried to formulate a response to that. He wasn’t into that! He wasn’t ‘into’ stuff. Well, not like that. Definitely not that! He forced himself to stop talking and let out a frustrated sigh as he ripped the notebook away from his teacher. 

“It’s not like that I-” He still wasn’t entirely sure how to compose those thoughts into words. “I didn’t know I was drawing it! I would  _ never _ -” 

“It must be another hint then?” Sugino suggested, carefully taking the notebook from Nagisa. 

Nagisa accepted that, partly because he would never admit to drawing anything like that voluntarily. Besides, it did make sense. All the other drawings left no memory in Nagisa’s mind, the situation seemed to be similar. This particular drawing was just… more interesting. 

Mrs. Bitch rolled her eyes and proceeded to look over Sugino’s arm to see the page again. Her face didn’t give away anything she was thinking, which Nagisa considered was because of the level of professionalism she had built up in her years as a successful assassin. 

Not that her earlier response had sounded very  _ professional _ . 

Eventually she called over Mr. Karasuma, asking him to look at the page too. He does so, face unchanging as his eyes scan over the page. Nagisa looked at him expectantly, hoping he would come with some kind of answer and bring at least  _ some _ clarity to the situation. 

“This must be how they tied Karma up. well, you mentioned Karma was tied up in his dream at least,” Mr. Karasuma noted, eyes still on the page. “Not an easy knot, but I can teach you how to undo it if you’re tied up like this.” 

Nagisa felt a little wave of relief wash over him. They’re lucky to have a competent teacher like Mr. Karasuma on their side. It was so helpful for him to know this kind of stuff, but then, he shouldn’t expect any less from a ministry of defense worker with as much training as he had. If he could undo the knot, escaping would become much more doable for him. It really made him feel like this was possible, that they could do this. 

Karasuma made some more notes about the knot out loud before asking Mrs. Bitch what else they’d found. Sadly, she had to inform him that it wasn’t much. In response, his brows furrowed, and Nagisa understood that reaction. They did need a little more information to properly make a plan. 

“Man, everything sure is vague.” Sugino complained out loud, slightly sliding down in his chair. 

Nagisa couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, I mean even when we discussed our dreams, it felt like we were decoding our-” 

Then, he stopped. It felt like something in his head just clicked as he said that sentence, and finally, he was starting to understand the situation a little bit better. Both he  _ and _ Karma had had these predicting dreams. Sure, Karma’s had come later, but it had come. 

Without saying anything, he got up as quickly as possible, making his way to Karma’s desk. Behind him, Sugino asked him what he’s doing and his teachers were portraying an equally confused look on their faces. Nagisa ignored them, too focused on going through Karma’s stuff. Eventually he found what he was looking for, Karma’s notebook. 

He opened it, a smile creeping up on his face as his eyes laid upon Karma’s writing. Rather, drawings and writing. Honestly, he should have known sooner, should have realized that if something was happening to him, it was probably happening to Karma too. That appeared to be how this body swap thing worked. 

“Karma made notes too!” Nagisa told the company, who were now approaching him, to look at Karma’s notebook with them. “It’s just like the dreams, we both had one, and they finished each other. These notes must be complementary!” 

“That’s- that kind of makes sense!” Sugino nodded, but then his expression changed a little. “But… Why wouldn’t Karma tell you about these?” 

Nagisa felt his heart sink as Sugino asked his question. It’s true that he and Karma had discussed everything else that happened, but as soon as these notes had started, he and Karma hadn’t even been talking anymore. Actually, they’d been full on fighting by that point. 

“We uh- we got into an argument,” Nagisa said softly, but he immediately jumped up as he saw the pitiful look in Sugino’s eyes. “It’s- It’s nothing to worry about, I mean-” 

“No, believe me, I think I get why Karma would be upset.” Sugino said. 

Confusion hit Nagisa as he looked at his best friend. What did he mean? Sure, Karma had every right to be upset, perhaps even more so now, because Nagisa’s incompetence had gotten him in so much trouble. If Nagisa hadn’t betrayed Karma, none of this may have happened. Or, at the very least, Nagisa could’ve told Karma about his notes and not be so behind on their plan now. 

He didn’t really understand Sugino. Did he think so bad of Nagisa that he could predict all the shitty things Nagisa had done to Karma? Nagisa hadn’t even told him about anything that happened. Yet, the way Sugino looked now, it really seemed he had a certain understanding of the situation. 

“No, trust me,” Sugino added. “I haven’t been exactly… nice… about him. When talking to you, I mean.” 

“When talking to- When did we discuss Karma?” Nagisa asked, confused. 

“I suppose when you were off being him.” Sugino replied, a guilty look on his face. 

Nagisa was starting to understand the situation. Some of the things Karma had said were starting to make sense to him now. He mentally facepalmed at his own stupidity, he probably should have realized what all of this had been about. There were now enough things Nagisa could think about for Karma to be upset about with him. 

He looked down at Karma’s notes again, taking in all the words and lines left on the page by his missing friend. Then, he looked up, and presented a soft smile to Sugino as he spoke again. 

“It’s okay, we can both make it up to him now by saving him.” 

\----------------------

That night, Nagisa is laid down in bed, restlessly turning every few seconds. He knew he should go and fall asleep, so he could wake up in the other boy’s body faster, and thus get him out faster too. The problem was that he was just too nervous and focused on repeating every single aspect of their plan in his head until he felt dizzy from the large amount of information he was forcing himself to recall all at once. 

In his head, he once again recalled how to untie the knot the way Mr. Karasuma had shown him. They’d practiced it for nearly an hour that afternoon, but he wanted to be sure he wouldn’t forget by morning. He  _ had to _ do this right. On top of that, he really did have to go over his route. They’d figured out the map and guards and all that, but he had to be sure to not mess it up by being too cocky about it. There was just so much to remember, but he felt he could do it. He had to, if he wanted to save Karma. 

The moment he thought about Karma, his heart skipped a beat. He really wanted to talk to him, apologize, say he understood now. At least, he thought he understood. Mostly, he just wanted to make sure Karma was alright, and be sure that he knew how much he cared about him. 

He caught himself stroking his wrist, the last place Karma had touched him, or, grabbed him, rather. Rather hard too, actually. Not that Nagisa could ever be mad about that, he’d basically saved Nagisa’s life. 

Eventually, he let go, forcing his eyes to close. He shouldn’t waste his time thinking about this now. Karma wouldn’t hear these apologies he was making in his head, he needed to hear them in real life, when he was back safe and sound with his class and not held hostage. That wouldn’t happen if Nagisa kept laying there, thinking. He really had to fall asleep. 

\-----------------------------

When he woke up the next morning, Nagisa felt an instant urge to just panic. He could feel the way his hands were restrained by some rope behind his back and couldn’t help but shudder at the feeling of the cold bare floor underneath him. The moment he forced himself to open his eyes, however, he was all business. Though his first reactions may have been surprise, he knew exactly what he was in for. He was on a mission, and he couldn’t let his classmates wait for him. 

First, he’d have to wait for some men to walk by, count how many of them there were, and with that, determine what time it was at that moment. He racked his brain for the schedule they’d figured out using his and Karma’s notes, where his own notes told them placement of the guards, and Karma’s the time of said placement. Sure, it had been a bit of a puzzle, but it was all worth it when Nagisa counted the amount of people that had walked by and felt like he could safely assume it was nearly a quarter to nine. 

One of the men that walked by even opened the door, checking in on their hostage. Of course, they had no idea something was up, but just to be sure, Nagisa closed his eyes and relaxed his body. If his captors thought he was still unconscious, they had no reason to suspect him of anything, which was exactly what Nagisa wanted. They were building on the element of surprise, after all. 

The moment the door closed again, Nagisa moved his wrists uncomfortably, trying to get in a position where he could sense the knot securing his hands together. Surely enough, when he manages to stretch his fingers over said knot, he recognized it to be the knot Mr. Karasuma had taught him about. He let his face show the relief he felt on the inside. 

He tried very hard to remember the right movements he needed to do to free his own hands. It was, however significantly harder to do that in a body that wasn’t his own. Uncomfortably, he tried to raise his shoulders, feeling like that would somehow improve the long limbs he wasn’t used to. In a way Karma’s long fingers made reaching the knot easier, but that wasn’t what Nagisa had practiced with. 

Eventually he managed to twist his wrist in the right way and got to really undoing the knot. He shook off the now loose ropes, shaking out his hands and stretching his arms a little to deal with the aftereffects of Karma’s body having been tied up for several hours now. At least it didn’t appear to have left behind any marks on Karma’s skin. 

Careful to not make a noise, he got up to silently make his way to the door. He moved carefully and soundlessly stood beside the door, awaiting the next people to walk by and open it. At that moment he really hoped their interpretation of the cryptids notes was right, otherwise he could be stuck in that room for quite a while. 

And he simply did not have the time. 

Just when he was about to be really disappointed in himself and their planning, he heard a noise coming from the hallway. A pair of footsteps, most likely two. That seemed to be in line with his plan. Still, he remained quiet and listened very well, hoping he did hear correct. Two men would be ideal, because more would be a little hard for Nagisa to take on, even with the element of surprise on his side. 

That wasn’t the only problem. They needed to open the door and check on him. The door was still locked at that point and Nagisa had no way to open it from the inside. Logically, the assailants had taken all of Karma’s stuff, and this wasn’t some lock Nagisa could force open. Not with  _ any _ body he’d ever been in. 

Man, that sounded like he’d been in a lot of bodies. Though, he supposed, he’d been in more bodes than the average human being. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the distracting thoughts. He had to focus. 

He kept waiting as the footsteps came closer, now having arrived at the door. After some more deduction, Nagisa concluded there really were two people there. Right now, they had stopped in front of the door, which meant Nagisa had to get ready. 

As a few clicking noises came from the door, he readied his stance, ready to jump at whoever opened the door the moment he got a clear shot of them. It wasn’t the most preferable situation, not knowing who his opponent was before fighting them, but there really wasn’t a chance to be picky in his situation. If anything, he should be lucky he knew how many he was up against. 

The first man, the one who opened the door, he knocked out with as much speed as he could. He punched him at a specific place in his neck, the way Mr. Karasuma had taught them in class. Sure, it was an easily defendable move, but it was just perfect for a surprise attack like Nagisa’s. 

The rather large man fell down, revealing the second person standing behind him, another man of about the same build. Before Nagisa got the chance to think about an attack the man charged at him, a look of fury on his face. It forced Nagisa to move backwards, into the room he’d just come from. 

He dodged a punch from the man, immediately noticing he was rather slow. With every punch he tried to lay on Nagisa, Nagisa got a better hold of the weaknesses in his fighting style. All strength, no tactic. Well, Nagisa was quite the opposite of that, so he devised a plan in perfect response like his teachers had taught him. 

Another punch raced past his face, but this time, instead of just dodging, he pushed the arm up to surprise his attacker. Judging by the look in his eyes, it worked. Nagisa used those mere seconds of confusion to now move forwards, ready one foot steadily on the ground, and using his other leg to kick the man in his private area. 

It wasn’t the most respectable way of fighting, but considering the unfairness of who he had opposite of him, Nagisa didn’t particularly mind. He had to be fair, he kind of underestimated Karma’s strength and may have kicked the man a little harder than he’d really intended to, but that probably wasn’t going to be too much of an issue. These kidnappers deserved it a little, at least. 

Just to finish off the fight he used another hit he’d learnt in gym class, now also knocking this man out. He fell to the ground with a loud thump, leaving Nagisa to stand over him with relief showing on his face. Not that he could stand there and bask in any relief (and maybe even a little glory) for long, because he needed to move forwards before the next people would walk through the hallway and find him. 

He dragged the unconscious body of the first man inside the room, hoping that leaving them out of sight would delay anyone finding out he was gone. Surely, if people saw them unconscious in the hallway there would be people looking for Nagisa everywhere. 

Well, technically they would be looking for Karma. 

As he looked at the bodies left behind in the room he couldn’t help but be thankful for the fact that he’d been in Karma’s body a while before this. The truth was, moving in someone else’s body was weird, and he had never felt as incapable as the first time trying to walk down stairs in Karma’s body. It was just so different from his. Though his fighting still wasn’t on par with that in his own body, all the PE class he’d had in Karma’s body the past weeks had actually helped him fight now. 

He closed the door behind him, looking around the hallway carefully one more time before taking off in the route he’d embedded on his brain. Following the hallways wasn’t too hard, having gone over his planned path more times than he could count the day before. The hard part was not getting caught. There would be enough men walking around the building and they most definitely should not find out he had escaped. Even more so, they should not catch him. 

Left, right, right, left again, and then go straight until you come across the fifth hallway to the right. Nagisa is surprised to find the first few hallways to be as good as deserted. Sure, they’d planned the route so that they wouldn’t run into any people where possible, but it was still remarkable there were no people leaving rooms every now and then. That didn’t mean Nagisa could be careless, so he kept peeking around every corner with much caution. 

A little further on, he finally started running into people in the hallways. Mostly, Nagisa just hid, either around the corner or by carefully entering a room along the way. It was the safest choice. Nagisa really would rather avoid fighting more people, seeing as the two men he’d fought earlier had been risky enough of a situation. 

He turned another corner, only to feel his senses triggered by the sound of a voice coming closer to him. From what he remembered, there wasn’t supposed to be anyone in this hallway, so whoever was walking towards him was most likely not planned to be at his current location. For a second Nagisa considered attacking, hoping to get out a little faster than he currently was, but listening for only a few seconds more told him there were too many people approaching him. A company of three, at least. 

Swiftly, he turned and dashed for a door just a bit behind him. He opened the door with little to no noise and closed it the moment he was in the dark room. His eyes needed a moment to adjust to the change from the fluorescent light from the hallways to the black environment he had found himself in. Carefully feeling around him, he made haste to hide away somewhere. 

He simply did not have the time to let his eyes adjust, his instinct telling him he may very well have run into the wrong room. Surprise hit him as his hunch was proven correct by the sudden movement of the door handle. Nagisa dove behind the desk he’d come into contact with, hoping no one would approach the side of it where he was hunched behind it. 

The voice speaking now filled the room, and a click announced the lights being turned on a mere second before the fluorescent lights above Nagisa flickered on. He could now see he was in some kind of office, though he could only see a small portion of it from his hiding position. At least the desk he used was closed off at three sides, ensuring no one would see him from the currently more used side of the space. 

“The time was clarified rather clearly,” A voice spoke somewhere behind Nagisa. “They’ll most likely have some plan to ruin it, considering their track record.” 

“Right, we just don’t bring the kid in until we have the monster.” Another voice added on. 

Though no one could see him, Nagisa showed a little smile on his face, nearly grinlike. They weren’t wrong, they  _ did _ have some kind of plan to ruin their deal. What these people didn’t know, however, was that the ‘kid’ they were talking about, wasn’t really under their restraints anymore. If anything, it was a little ironic that they were discussing this with said kid in the room. 

“Do you think they’ll go for it then?” A third voice, feminine, joined the conversation. 

“I don’t think they’ll have much of an option.” The second voice said, with what Nagisa was appalled to recognize as a little laugh. 

“I think Hachiro is right here,” yet another voice spoke up. “but we can’t underestimate this class. As long as they don’t know where the hostage is, we should be fine, but they might offer to come to the room he’s being kept, and we can  _ not _ have that.” 

The rest of the company seemed to agree, overall saying they needed to keep the odds in their favour. The woman of their group mentioned looking for some file, and Nagisa registered her walking towards something because of the sound of heels clicking against the floorboards. Luckily for him, they went in a direction away from him. 

Nagisa kind of pitied these people. Compared to any of the other incidents his class had gotten into, their attacker had always had some kind of advantage on the class because of the lack of intel their class had had. They barely ever held any details on plans or who was behind them. Now, he and Karma did not only switch, but they also managed to dream up relevant information on their assailent’s plan and base. Combining that with all the other information they could possibly get and the hours of training and time spent working together, it appeared their assailants did not have the upper hand, for once. 

Real unfortunate for them, but just  _ great _ for the E-class. 

He felt he could finally breathe freely again the moment the group had left the room. Just to be sure, he waited a little longer before he left the room too. He couldn’t wait too long, of course, he’d been delayed enough by that point. If he wanted to meet halfway with his class, he had to hurry up. 

He turned into the hallway and hastily moved to continue onwards, hoping to get out of those people’s range as quickly as possible. The idea of his nearing freedom was promising, and for a moment he let himself be hopeful. As soon as he was out, Karma would be safe, and he’d  _ have _ to talk to Nagisa. Either about what happened or to continue past it and move on. 

Perhaps it was a little bit of a forceful way for them to make up. Nagisa, however, did not feel he had any right to be picky at that point. It’s exactly like he’d discussed with Sugino, a chance to say sorry to him meant a lot at this point, and whatever happened after that, well, that was up to Karma. Nagisa could only hope that his and Karma’s relationship would continue to be the same as before, or different in what he hoped to be a positive manner. 

His mind wandered on Karma for a moment longer than he intended to. He realized that, maybe, he had to be more straightforward to him. Truly, he wanted Karma to know how he felt, and not think of a few vague words that Nagisa used to try and explain himself. 

The right words existed. Surprisingly, the truth was that, despite the way he was, he felt something… specific… for Karma. It was something special, that Nagisa didn’t feel that often. Not necessarily a one time feeling, but definitely a once in a lifetime feeling. 

Karma’s use of the word “love” had hit something in him, after all. 

When he passed what felt like it was the millionth T-junction, Nagisa realized how close he was to arriving at the backroom at which he’d promised to meet up with the class. His heart was racing in his chest as he looked over his shoulders, ensuring he wasn’t being followed. He didn’t think that would be these people’s strategy, but he couldn’t rule out any chances at this point. As much of an advantage as they had over these people, he still wasn’t exactly in a safe situation. 

He turned back, ready to turn one of the last corners and finally make his way out. Just as he turned said corner, something came into his vision, faster than he could comprehend it. From the right, an arm swung, fist first, into Nagisa’s direction. And before he knew it, Nagisa felt a punch to his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy oh boy, next chapter will be the final chapter and then this fic is OVER. I hope y'all are excited. 
> 
> I can't make any promises about when it will come out, seeing as I have exams and my essay due dates for uni. I mean, even this chapter was supposed to be done like, 2 weeks ago. Sadly, I was either busy, had my birthday, or too sick to work on it (no covid, thank god)   
> See y'all for the next chapter, or (if you read my other fics) for the next chapter of Love in the Virtual Classroom first. 
> 
> All your kudos and comments are appreciated and if you did either of those, I love you.


	12. Ending Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every mission comes to an end, whether the objective was a succes really depends...

The punch came as a surprise, and Nagisa found himself stumbling backwards from the blow. Instinctively, he moved his hands to hold his face, as if the touch of his own skin would somehow relieve the pain. It didn’t, sadly, but he kept a hold of his face as he moved his gaze up, eyes scanning the person in front of him with the intention of calculating his chances in a fight. 

In front of him stood the exact kind of person Nagisa knew he’d rather avoid fighting. He wasn’t the biggest fan of an enemy twice his size, as common as they were to him at this point. There wasn’t exactly a way to back out of it. At that moment his only options were fight, flight, or get caught and ruin the entire mission. 

Nagisa felt something rise within him, though he wasn’t entirely sure what it was. The main thought that went through his head was his current state, that being he was in Karma’s body. He’d been Karma for quite a bit now and there was a certain irony in the fact that he’d always yearned to be more like Karma. 

Karma was cool, strong, and always appeared to be determined no matter what it was he was doing. Sure, he had his flaws, but that never changed the way Nagisa saw him. All the fighting was a lot, perhaps even overdoing it, but Karma rarely showed himself doing that out of desperacy. Besides, there were so many times where Nagisa really felt he could see deeper into Karma, where he’d show just a little too much enthusiasm over the movie they were watching, or how he presented everyone with a proud smile when he looked at his results for their math exam. It’s why it had hurt so much when he’d left him, when he no longer wanted to be friends with Nagisa anymore. To Nagisa, that was a sign he wasn’t on the same level as Karma, and that he could  _ never _ be like him. 

No matter how much he felt he could see the real Karma, Karma never wanted him to see that. It was a little hard to not try and understand Karma more when he was in his body, however. He’d been living Karma’s life, it was just impossible to not experience Karma in an all new light. Karma wasn’t  _ that _ different from him, and Nagisa could definitely improve himself in that way, if he did what Karma would do. 

And in this particular situation, Karma would  _ not _ back down from a fight, no matter how big the opponent. 

He charged forwards, no regards for whatever his own mind would needlessly worry him about. The hands he’d previously held to his face moved down and stopped at the exact right place Nagisa needed them for his attack. It wasn’t his usual technique, he didn’t feel himself lunge forwards to ambush his attacker, it felt a lot more powerful. For this situation, it felt  _ just right _ . 

He was, in no way, a hand to hand combat expert. Some areas of fighting weren’t his strong suit, but that was absolutely normal. Still, he knew exactly how to hold his stance and to move back his arm in preparation of a good punch. As cheesy as it may have sounded, his body moved for him, as if it were still Karma that were controlling it. 

The punch landed, knocking back his assailant slightly, but not as much as it had to Nagisa. Then again, this wasn’t a surprise attack. Nagisa didn’t have much of an upperground on this man. If anything, he was glad he wasn’t  _ too _ disadvantaged by being outnumbered. He couldn’t let thoughts about that distract him, however, because his fight was far from over. 

Moving back a little, he dodged a punch, and then another. The next fist he blocked by grabbing his opponent's wrist, twisting it slightly as he moved to the side, hoping to maneuver around him slightly. Because of his focus, he immediately noted the change in the man’s stance, and was thus entirely prepared for the kick that came next. Moving out of its way wasn’t too hard, all he had to do was spin away from it and then, of course, gather force for the next punch he wanted to lay on his opponent. 

That continued for a bit, the two of them moving back and forth between their attacks. Nagisa realized he had to hurry up. The longer he stayed there, the more he’d risk the arrival of any backup arriving at the scene. So far no one had shown up, but the punches and violent shoving into the wall weren’t exactly creating a moment of silence in that hallway. 

He didn’t want to admit it, but deciding to fight this man like this wasn’t optimal. If it worked, it would be grand, but the longer the fight carried on, the more desperate he became to move on. With his end goal being so close, it was hard not to be bothered about the situation. 

Just as he was distracted, a kick hit him in the side, the surprise making him knock into a wall. A low grunt escaped him as he came into contact with the wall. His body slid down a little, the sudden pain in his body a little overwhelming to him. He couldn’t just sit there, however, not while his opponent was still standing and ready to fight and get back their hostage. 

The large man stood over him, a serious and menacing look on his face. Nagisa wasn’t even sure what to do next. He was on the ground, and hurt, making him heavily disadvantaged. The chances that he could get up there and fight properly again were slim, because he definitely wouldn’t be able to fight like he was doing before. He just wasn’t Karma. 

He felt his body tense up as the man moved forwards, bending slightly and obviously on his way to reprimand Nagisa again, most likely to lock him back up in some room. Nagisa could sense the way his breath got caught in his throat at the thought of what was about to happen, he wanted to fight, but he wasn’t sure how. 

Just then, a lot happened at once. Noise. Movement. The man looked to his side, his face turning to whatever was making noise with much speed, to inspect what was in the hallway with them. And, before he could react again, he was punched with so much speed that a dazed Nagisa couldn’t keep up with it. His mind wasn’t entirely clear as he looked up in desperation, wanting to find out who his saviour was. 

“you learned the right spots to hit, you know?” Karma said, giving him a slight smirk. 

He stood there in Nagisa’s body, appearing like some superhero in a movie, with his hands in his sides. The fluorescent lights from behind him made him appear even grander than the natural perspective Nagisa had because of his position on the floor already did. Nagisa didn’t think he could ever be any happier to see Karma standing in front of him, whatever body he was in. 

“I couldn’t exactly land a hit there,” Nagisa sighed in relief, both from being saved and the fact that Karma was talking to him. “Besides, I feel like you enjoyed finishing that.” 

A small laugh escaped Karma, and he stretched out his hand, which Nagisa gladly took hold of so Karma could help him get up. An aching feeling spread through his side as he did, and he let out another noise of complaint because of his hurt body. Karma gave him a concerned look, his eyes drifting to the side Nagisa was desperately clutching in discomfort. 

As much as Nagisa would have loved to stay in that moment of joy of seeing Karma again, the pain in his side and the annoyed grunt from his former opponent were a grim reminder of the time limit they were on. The sooner they got out, the better. Nagisa wanted to look around to see where the rest of his class was, but a flash of yellow presented itself to him in no time. 

“Oh no, are you hurt?” Korosensei asked, not entirely calm, but making a clear attempt to make Nagisa feel safe. “Our best bet would be to move on now before-” 

“I can move.” Nagisa announced, forcing himself to straighten up. 

He could sense from both Korosensei and Karma that they didn’t entirely believe him. Their stances were rather unsure. Nagisa ignored that, because the truth was he could move. It  _ sucked _ , sure, but he could move well enough. They could take care of his pain later, when they were in a safer spot. 

As if the universe wanted to give them a sign, another person joined them. Interrupting their moment of worry was Fuwa, who ran up to them holding a small gun in her hand, most likely filled with tranquilizer darts so as to not hurt anyone human. Korosensei would never let them harm anyone other than him. She looked at the company with a look of focus in her eyes. 

“We need to get going  _ now. _ ” She said, eyeing the people around her. “They definitely know what’s going on, a lot of backup arrived.” 

Nagisa didn’t need much more to convince him to continue. He straightened himself up and looked Karma in the eyes. “Trust me” was all he could think of to try and convince Karma. The look Karma gave him was a little vague, but he nodded nonetheless, also aware that they really had no choice but to move forwards now. 

“Is our way out still free?” Karma asked Fuwa. 

“As free as I am on saturday night.” She saluted. 

The rest of them looked at each other questioningly. After a few seconds passed without anyone reacting to Fuwa, she let out a disappointed sigh. She rolled her eyes before she spoke again. 

“Yes,” She said. “It’s still free.” 

That was a lot more like their language, and they nodded at each other to notify their agreement to the plan. This was the most chaotic part of their mission because, even with all the stuff Nagisa was able to predict, his own success and that of the class was mostly unpredictable. Where they’d meet and who would group up with Nagisa first was one big question mark, so making an escape plan was just as difficult for them. 

At least he had Karma by his side, who, though definitely not that strong in Nagisa’s body, was supporting him as they made their way through the hallways. They entered the storage space they were supposed to meet up in in the first place and it didn’t take long before Nagisa saw the rest of his class waiting for them. Well, at least most of them. Chances were most of them were still dispersed in the groups they’d decided on beforehand. Korosensei gave them a quick warning that he'd be gone for a bit and then he disappeared, off to get all of the groups back together as one so they could make their way out. After all, their main objective was fulfilled the moment they’d found Nagisa. 

“I don’t remember getting hurt,” Karma came closer to his ear as he spoke. “Did the big guy do that, or…?” 

“I- yeah, h-he did.” Nagisa managed to let out. 

He was a little embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Though it probably wasn’t that much of a big deal to Karma, it just sucked that he’d lost that fight where he’d been doing so well before. Even worse when he realized it was because he was trying so hard to be Karma. Karma, who now rolled his eyes at him. 

“Thanks, dumbass, got  _ me _ hurt when I’d finally managed to control the damage,” He complained and, just when Nagisa was about to go on an apology spree, he defensively put his hands up as his eyes grew wide in a reaction that appeared both shocked and concerned. “Joking! I appreciate the save and all!” 

Nagisa let his words sink in and shrunk together a little. He probably should have realized Karma was joking, immediately. That was just the way Karma did things. Not too serious. 

“I’m still going to be sorry, though.” He softly added. 

Before either of them could say anything, one of their teacher’s called for their attention. Apparently they had to take a different route than planned, and splitting up into their three groups was the best chance they had. Nagisa somewhat agreed, feeling it sounded logical, but also felt guilty because he knew he’d just slow his group down a lot. Getting hurt wasn’t exactly the highlight of this mission. 

They split into their groups with much ease, Kayano offering a little help in creating the formation within their group, though annoyingly interrupted by Bitch sensei giving her own preferred commands. At least she was nice enough to put Nagisa somewhat in the middle of team A’s formation, saying he’d need to be mostly protected at this point. 

“I get the offence team and I’m  _ still _ on protection duty,” Their teacher complained, her tone sounding highly irritated. “this really isn’t my type of mission.” 

Kayano gave Nagisa an apologetic look, probably realizing how absolutely useless he felt in that moment, before patting Bitch sensei on the back and asking her to lead them anyways, “like the great power woman she is”. A few people hid their laughs in response, but their teacher was over the moon with that title, now absolutely emerged in her task as a fearless feminine leader. 

The rest of their pathing wasn’t too wild, not for Nagisa at least. Those at the front of their formation did most of the fighting, knocking any enemies they came across out before notifying everyone else they could continue. It wasn’t exactly like Nagisa could let his guard down. If the occasion rose up he’d have to at least defend himself, though he really hoped he was capable of a little more even now. Ignoring the pain wouldn’t be  _ that _ hard once he was in the rush of a fight, he knew that much. At least the sort of calm moment and lack of necessity of his skills gave him another moment to talk with Karma, who was tasked with protecting him again. 

“Honestly, little glad I’m tasked with you. fighting in your body is just so different,” Karma rambled on, Nagisa only really hearing the end of whatever long speech he’d been holding. “Not that I can’t do it, obviously, just not as great.” 

It was a little stupid. Karma in no way had to prove himself to Nagisa, so he wasn’t sure why he was getting this entire excuse for his so-called demotion in their formation. Most likely, Karma did want to fight. Nagisa got that, he wasn’t really a fan of their current position either. 

“I don’t think that hallway was cleared but- well,  _ you _ are the one that could find any sense in those predictions,” Karma continued on. “I was supposed to be the brains between us tw-” 

“you’re not going to stop talking, are you?” Nagisa asked, letting out an awkward laugh. 

It didn’t feel that great when Karma looked at him in surprise, even showing a little bit of hurt on his face. Nagisa felt bad about saying it, but also, he wasn’t feeling that great. Truthfully, Karma’s rambling was a lot. He was a little afraid he’d miss anything and thus mess up again, sure, but he also just felt his own heartbeat speed up with every second where Karma started talking faster, too. 

“Not helping with the nerves?” Karma asked. 

“not really, no,” Nagisa managed to say. “Sorry.” 

The sound of a gun made the both of them jump, making them realize how unfocused they were at that moment. Perhaps they had been talking too much. Both of them regained their posture the moment they concluded none of their friends were hurt. Nagisa gave Karma a quick look over, somehow needing the reassurement he was still there. He seemed as shaken up as he was, but he was also showing something else. 

“we are going to talk, though, right?” Karma looked at him with a curious look on his face, one that Nagisa couldn’t wave off easily. And he wouldn’t. “about what happened.” 

“We’ll talk.” Nagisa nodded. “The moment this is over.” 

It wasn’t entirely clear when that would be, Nagisa was aware. “Over” could mean many things, but to Nagisa it just meant safety. He wanted to be able to sit alone with Karma and have a proper discussion. The adrenaline that was most likely surging through his body as long as they were in that building probably wasn’t that great when they had so many serious things to talk about. If anything, Nagisa felt he’d mess up even more in this state. 

A few positive shouts from in front of them comforted him though, announcing to them they were nearing the exit. They’d be getting there before all the other groups, so of course the worrying wouldn’t be over. And even then, once outside they still had to get far away, preferably back to the E class mountain. Was it only over once they’d arrived there? Nagisa wasn't sure. He really could only wonder. 

\----------------------------------------

Karma had known the bodyswap was supposed to be happening again. As soon as he’d found himself tied up in that empty room, with a door he assumed to be locked, his mind wandered to Nagisa with a hint of fear added to those thoughts. He wasn’t an idiot, he realized immediately that him being in this sort of prison meant Nagisa would be in it the next day. 

When that man had stepped out of the car, gun in hand, his own eyes followed its destined path and the past few weeks had flashed before his eyes. The car itself was a warning sign in itself, one he recognized just a little too late. At least he managed to save Nagisa from all of this. Well, managed to save his  _ body _ . That still felt like an achievement. The situation still angered him, though. The fact that these people wanted to go after Nagisa pissed him off immensely. If he could do anything, he’d make sure they’d pay for that. 

But, when he looked to his side as they made their way out of the building, the look Nagisa was portraying on Karma’s face held him back. He wouldn’t want him to go off and punch every guy he could find in the face. Yes, it would have been an impossible job, but also so satisfying to Karma. The way Nagisa worked though, he just wanted them to be safe. Nagisa would most probably lecture him on how violence wasn’t the answer. 

Which was  _ a little  _ hypocritical considering the situation he’d found Nagisa in, head first in a fight he had appeared to be losing. 

The last pair of hallways flashed by Karma, whose mind was preoccupied basically the entire time. All he wanted was for him and Nagisa to talk about this but, judging by the looks of their situation, the opportunity for a decent and private conversation between the two of them wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. 

Their freedom was almost in sight, the light at the end of the hallway illuminating the rest of their way as the door was held open by two of their classmates, when a sudden movement disrupted not only their focus but also the opening in front of them. With barely any time to read the situation and react, Karma simply took a fighting stance, hoping he could take on the unforeseen situation which was about to unfold. 

Out of some side hallway, a man jumped into the middle of their group, splitting it in two. Having literally none of the luck in the world on their side, he, of course, appeared right in front of Karma and Nagisa. The classmates who had previously been in front of them turned around with real speed, obviously wanting to attack the man, however, they stopped in their tracks when they realized that the previously unidentified object in the man’s hand was, in fact, a gun. 

No one moved, the sudden risk added to the situation a shock to most. Karma felt his chest move along with his breaths. He tried to keep it at a regular pace with everything he had before he managed to take a step forward. The man instantly raised his gun, which was now pointing directly at Karma’s chest. He stopped. 

“Big man needs a gun, huh?” Karma remarked, hoping to keep the man busy and away from his classmates. “Do we scare you that much?” 

He didn’t get an answer, but he figured he probably wasn’t scared of them. Specifically, Karma felt he shouldn’t fear  _ him _ at that moment. His appearance was that of a fifteen year old boy who only had less than 160 cm height on him. Of course, Karma knew better about Nagisa’s abilities, but this man shouldn’t. 

“you don’t need to make sure it’s loaded?” Karma tilted his head, trying to tie in his body language with the teasing tone he was setting up in his voice. “It’d be  _ so embarrassing _ if it turned out to be empty.” 

For a moment, a confused look crossed the man’s face. Most likely, he was wondering what on earth Karma was doing. Normally people would be afraid with a gun pointed at them. Karma was scared, too, he wouldn’t deny that. He also, however, knew that no one would be able to attack this opponent if he wasn’t somehow distracted. 

Karma considered himself an expert at distracting. 

From the corner of his eyes, Karma saw someone move forwards towards the man. At first he felt relief, knowing someone recognized his plan and made the first move to attack, but then he saw the flash of red that announced to Karma just  _ who _ was aiding him. He didn’t want Nagisa to fight, he was wounded! And not even wounded in his own body!

Nagisa’s hands moved forwards until they met right before the man’s face, where their union echoed through the hallway in the form of a loud clap. It was a move which Karma had seen used before, only once, when Nagisa fought Takaoka on that hotel rooftop on that dreadful summer’s night. It had shocked and frightened him a little back then, when he’d seen it from a distance, but now, only a mere two or three meters away from the attack, he felt his own senses peak in response. He wasn’t sure he ever wanted to experience that first hand, without knowing what was coming. 

The scariest thing about it was knowing all the effort and skill that went with that move, and how that contradicted with the unassuming appearance Nagisa usually held. It made  _ Nagisa _ scary, not just the fight. Now, Karma was rather glad Nagisa had this set of abilities because it truly did save them. 

One glance at the man’s eyes told Karma he was gone, taken back by the momentum of the clap. He was so far gone, he dropped his gun to the ground with a loud clatter. Before he could regain any sense of the situation at hand, Karma kicked the gun far away from them. He watched as it slid away past several people of their group and only looked back up the moment it had stopped. 

Maehara and Isogai had left the front of the group and now worked together to get the man out of their way. The people around them made room for them, making sure they could reach the situation and end it. They managed to kick him back in the side hallway again, where he fell down to the ground without much resistance, his body still slightly limp from shock. 

Most eyes were still on their previous assailant. Everyone probably wanted to make sure they wouldn’t get attacked again. A grunt came from that direction, which to Karma could only mean one thing. When the man finally moved again, possibly to get up, one single tranquilizer dart hit him in the neck. Karma didn’t look back to see who shot it. 

“Huh… So I can do that in whatever body?” Nagisa silently remarked beside Karma. 

Before anything else could happen, Karma grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out. The rest of their group moved along, instantly reacting to the situation and continuing to make their way out. None of them felt like finding out what would happen if they stayed any moment longer. Freedom was so close. 

Even as the sunlight and sudden cold feeling of the chilly autumn weather hit his face, he felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Oddly enough, the warehouse space their assailants had used hadn’t been too far from the 3E mountain. Because of this, it was quite easy for the E-class to run back to the mountain themselves, knowing the exact way to take if they didn’t wish to be noticed. Considering some teens carrying weapons and some being visibly wounded would raise much unneeded awareness, they really did not want to attract that attention. They arrived at the mountain with barely any trouble. 

Going up the mountain was a little more bothersome. Nagisa clearly hadn’t left Karma’s body in a good state and needed some support going up. They couldn’t just stay at the bottom, however, it simply was safer in the classroom. Besides, that was where all the first aid supplies were as well. So, Karma had to let Nagisa lean on him, which wasn’t entirely optimal considering he was in Nagisa’s body and currently not that well-muscled, to say the least. He begrudgingly let Sugino help him. 

Sugino, who gave Karma a bit of a weird look. He’d done the same earlier that day, when Karma had arrived at their classroom as Nagisa, finding out everyone knew about their body swap. Perhaps he was a little freaked out about someone else being in his best friend’s body. That was Karma’s initial thought. 

Then, he figured Sugino must also have not forgotten the things he’d said about Karma. He considered confronting Sugino about it, but the poor boy had enough on his mind with the whole rescue mission, and so did Karma, to be fair. Now, he just had to deal with the look Sugino was giving him, as if he  _ did _ want to talk about it, but didn’t know how to start. Karma really hoped he didn’t. 

Once they arrived at the classroom, they let Nagisa sit down on the first chair in sight. Immediately, he was taken back by the amount of questions his classmates asked him. Karma knew he was overwhelmed by the look in Nagisa’s eyes, which portrayed a certain surprise and a rather big lack of processing of the situation. So, Karma pushed some people away, rather weakly, and stayed next to Nagisa as Korosensei took a look at his wounds. Nagisa looked at Karma several times, his head barely moving as his eyes switched between looking at his own wounds being treated and Karma. 

Karma took those quick movements as a sign of stress, unsure what else he’d have to take it for, and grabbed a hold of Nagisa’s hand, this time not really thinking about the oddness of that technically being his own hand. He didn’t say a word, though. 

\---------------------------------------

The next day, Nagisa had woken up in his own body and Karma had called in sick for school. He had some injuries to take care of, which Nagisa felt guilty about basically the entire day. Karma didn’t blame him, of course, he actually felt like he could use the day off to consider what had happened. Luckily, he didn’t forget to text Nagisa that, somehow knowing that was what Nagisa needed to keep going through the day. Even better, he even managed to let Korosensei know he’d be out, who had no trouble with that at all, of course, and he was glad to see Nagisa come to school at all. He even told him he didn’t have to force himself if he wasn’t feeling okay. 

Nagisa felt better at school than at home. 

He didn’t have to experience coming home the day before, considering Karma was the one to endure that pleasure of an experience. Lucky for Karma, he didn’t encounter Nagisa’s mother. After ditching on the important dinner Nagisa was supposed to attend with her, it wasn’t hard to predict what kind of mood she’d be in. Nagisa had encountered it earlier that day, when his own mother ignored him throughout the entirety of dinner. Of course, Nagisa was expecting the start of a storm when he’d get home from school. Perhaps, this wouldn’t even end after one day, it could take some time. 

He didn’t blame Karma for not going to that for him for multiple reasons. First of all, Karma’s body was hurt, and it was logical he’d stay with that. There was no way Nagisa could lecture him for being worried about his own wellbeing. Second, their class did have to discuss what happened and what was to happen next, Karma couldn’t just leave. If anything, Nagisa felt he deserved to be there as Karasuma described the government’s procedure on putting away their kidnappers. Third, Karma had stayed there, supporting Nagisa as he got his wounds taken care of. He didn’t just stay for his own body, he’d been comforting Nagisa basically the entire time and Nagisa wasn’t sure he’d be able to sit there as calmly as he had if it weren’t for him. 

And lastly, he simply did not want to be angry with Karma anymore. 

The day after that, Nagisa was surprised to find himself in his own body again. And, though his own mother’s voice was calling to him from the living room, the first thing he did was text Karma. He just had to confirm that what appeared to be happening was real. With the delivery of Karma’s text it all became clear. 

It seemed their body swap was finally over. 

Nagisa found himself sitting on a fallen tree trunk near the 3E mountain’s cliff, where it looked as if the cliff’s edge was the horizon, and like there is no deathly drop behind it. It felt a little odd meeting with Karma here, considering that exact cliff had once nearly been the end for Karma and the fact that they were here after what could have been a very lethal situation for him too. Yet, it also seemed to fit rather well. Nagisa could never look at this place without immediately thinking of Karma, as grim of a reminder as it was. 

Finally, Karma showed up, about three quarters before their first class would start. Not that either of them was really concerned with getting to class on time at all. The two of them had some things to talk about, whether they wanted to or not. Nagisa felt like he finally sort of wanted to. Karma, of course, had wanted to have a decent talk for a while, though he had previously been too awkward to initiate anything at all of the sorts. 

At first, it was a little awkward, Karma sitting down next to Nagisa without saying any word at all. Nagisa considered greeting him, but pretty quickly apprehended himself from doing so. He simply didn’t know how to start. Not that he could expect Karma to know that either. Perhaps their hello’s weren’t necessary, but for them to start, the obvious should be stated first. 

“So, this body swap is over then?” Nagisa finally gathered the courage to say. 

Karma looked at him for a second before returning his gaze to the cliff. He nodded lightly, lips pursed as he probably attempted to live through the awkwardness of the situation. Nagisa followed his gaze and, rather than looking at the cliff, looked at the sky above it. It was a cloudy day, barely any blue sky in sight. There was some small specs of blue visible, though. 

“And we have been through… quite a bit,” Nagisa added, the last part coming out with a sigh. “some of which we really do have to talk about.” 

Nagisa looked at Karma, who looked down for a moment before turning his head to look Nagisa in the eye. The look in his eye wasn’t too hard for Nagisa to read. Karma felt insecure. That made sense, some things had been admitted to, and some things may change from then on. Some experiences affect you forever. 

Hoping to help him get through the situation, Nagisa gave him a soft, encouraging smile. Perhaps it wasn’t much, but it was one of the best things Nagisa could manage in the moment. He had to admit, words weren’t exactly  _ his _ strong suit either. Him and Karma actually talking about something, it was weird, and not easy. 

“is this where we start with apologies?” Karma asked, unsure. 

Nagisa shook his head. “I think we’ve done those by now,” he said. “And I, personally, think we’ve forgiven each other for whatever the other has done.” 

Another silence fell on them, leaving them to just stare at each other. The smile on Nagisa’s face was becoming uncomfortable, his face nearly cramping up because of the tension of keeping it there. He let it fall down. A smile wasn’t going to make the situation easier, solving it would. And solve it he was determined to do. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t start with the-the feelings part,” Nagisa forced the words out. “N-not the specific uh- you know which ones I mean…”

Karma raised a brow at him, but he didn’t care to correct or interrupt him either. Much to Nagisa’s displeasure, he was aware he’d have to be the one to lead this conversation. It wasn’t a responsibility he enjoyed, but one he knew he had to accept if he wanted to get anywhere with Karma. And he did want to get somewhere, even if he wasn’t sure where. Nagisa decided to just continue talking. 

“Because even if we forgive each other and-and somehow manage to move on from what happened, I don’t think we can ever forget what we saw when we were in each other’s body. As unbelievable and, well,  _ cheesy _ as it sounds, we’ve seen each other in such a light that no one else ever will see. I, personally, feel like I understand your life more because I lived it just like- Just like you said about my mom-” 

“You don’t have to talk about that,” Karma interrupted him, grabbing a hold of Nagisa’s hand. “Not if you don’t want to. I think I get it.” 

Nagisa supposed he did. That point had been made, even before Nagisa had brought it up. Even if that moment wasn’t exactly something he looked back at with a positive light, it sure was something that happened which Nagisa had to accept and move forward from. There was no use repeating things already said. Repeating wasn’t moving forward. 

“Right, sorry,” Nagisa took a deep breath and continued, no intentions of forcing Karma to release his hand to be found. “I guess I just want you to know that I think… that, if I had to experience switching bodies like this with anyone, I feel like I shouldn’t regret it to be with you. If I’m honest I think I had so much trouble understanding you and- And though I am so glad this is over, I do think this wasn’t.... the worst.” 

There was no moment of silence to be left, because the moment Nagisa finished talking, Karma let out a snort. The smile on Karma’s face surprised the other boy. He looked at Karma with a confused, and maybe even concerned, look on his face. 

“I hate us getting sentimental,” Karma admitted, still a laugh on his face. 

“Says the one who talked about destined love,” Nagisa retorted. 

“Right,” Karma admitted. “Touche” 

Nagisa felt a little smile creep up on his own face, too. He didn’t want to admit to it, though, and tried to hold it back. Then again, he was glad their conversation was going as any normal conversation with them went, indicating that, perhaps, not  _ too _ much had changed. He liked that. There was no way some body swap should change what he and Karma had. 

“I do feel the same though,” Karma said, interrupting Nagisa’s thoughts and surprising him once more. Karma looked oddly sentimental for his doing. “Even ignoring my ‘Destiny’ thing, I do think that the two of us going through this together is the only logical way for this to happen… As far as logic goes in this situation.” 

Logic was fake to Nagisa, from now on. At the start of the year he’d been surprised by some inhuman tentacle creature coming to teach his class and now he’d experienced switching bodies with one of his best friends. What was next, a 100 score in science? 

He let out another sigh as forced some hair behind his ear, somehow feeling he had to keep moving to not make anything weird. That was absurd, of course, but Nagisa had trouble just sitting there doing nothing. Judging by the way Karma was tapping his fingers, he felt the same. 

“We suck at this.”

“Yeah, we do.” 

Nagisa grabbed his bag and opened it, taking some papers out before handing them to Karma. The day before, he’d been given Karma’s homework instead of his own, seeing as everyone thought they’d just switch again. It was weird to accept the kidnapping incident to be the thing to end their switching, but they’d already concluded through text that that must have been the case. 

Some destiny they had with their swap, stopping just one of the many events they had during their year in 3E. One that, years down the line, seemed so insignificant compared to everything that had happened. Most people in their class had barely been affected by it, of course. The incident the night before their graduation would greatly outshadow this one mission for most of them. 

Not that either Karma or Nagisa knew of this at the moment of their conversation. They did not know what else was to come, only that they had to discuss what had already passed. That wasn’t an easy task considering neither of them wanted to discuss the topic at hand. Even when they sat there discussing what they’d found out about each other’s lives, the elephant in the room had only been addressed in the passing of a mere joke. 

“I really felt like I had to clean up your kitchen, because  _ your lazy ass  _ sure wouldn’t.” Nagisa laughed. 

Karma shrugged in response, not really that bothered by the idea of his admittedly messy kitchen. To him, there was no reason to clean it up if no one was going to see it. It wasn’t like his parents were going to yell at him about it. For all he knew, they wouldn’t be back for at least another month, probably longer. He didn’t mind that, either, because he told himself exactly what he told Nagisa when he’d mentioned how lonely Karma must be in that house: “It’s not like they would make the place any better these days anyways.” 

“You’re always welcome to come over for that,” Karma lightly pushed Nagisa in a jokingly manner as he spoke. “There’s always room for you to sleepover.” 

That comment made Nagisa fall silent for a bit, and Karma noticed it. Nagisa didn’t want to make it serious, but he felt like that comment could not be removed from its bridge-like purpose to a much avoided topic he’d rather evade himself, too. Perhaps the intent hadn’t been there for Karma, but there was a certain feeling hidden behind his comment. 

Thinking back to the moment where Nagisa had realized Karma’s feelings, he forced himself to sit straight. He couldn’t slump his way through this topic. He forced himself to focus on his breathing before speaking up, really not wishing to fall into a stutter or loss for words now. 

“Karma, I have to confess something to you,” He managed to let out, immediately attracting Karma’s full attention. “I… really don’t know how to feel about that kiss, still. A-and the confession, I don’t know about that either.” 

“You… do you wish it never happened?” Karma asked, his tone matching the seriousness Nagisa portrayed too. 

“I suppose it’s more complicated than that,” Nagisa admitted. “I know there’s something, I just don’t know if it’s the same as what you think of all of it. I mean I-” 

Karma put his hand up, instantly shutting Nagisa up. He didn’t immediately start talking. Rather, he took the moment to think and let Nagisa breathe a little, too. Only when he figured out the intentions of his own words, did he continue. 

“I’ll be the first to admit that it was...a lot,” Karma started. “I know you feel overwhelmed because- Because I feel the same. Nagisa, I never realized these kinds of feelings before, but there’s a certain something I feel with you, that no one else makes me feel. And my main issue here, the reason I got so upset about everything, wasn’t just that I’d never been rejected for something so genuine like that before. It wasn’t that I felt you would leave me either. 

Those were such important elements of it, yes, but the main thing was that I knew you felt something too. Nagisa, even when you pushed me away, there was something different in you from before. Even when I talked to you after that, you said things that made me feel like there was something more to how you feel about me, and you know it.” 

At first, Nagisa couldn’t find his voice. It felt like something was stuck in his throat and, the moment he opened his mouth his voice just wouldn’t work for him. Karma’s words had hit him. They didn’t hit in a way that made Nagisa hate him, they hit in a way that made it hard for him to look at Karma. It hit, because he knew Karma was somewhat right. 

“For the record, I know I- I know I said s-stupid things… and I- I should have been more straight forward,” Nagisa tried to subdue his own stutters as he explained. “When I said I couldn’t feel like you did I- I really wasn’t trying to offend you. ‘Lust’ was such a shitty term and I know it objectified you but-” 

“Then what did you mean?” Karma interrupted him, a hint of his former anger in his eyes. 

Nagisa couldn’t help but feel the need to take a moment as he saw those eyes. He didn’t want this to turn into the same situation as it had the other time. There was no way he was about to regret another conversation with Karma. Regret like that did nothing good for him, nor did it do anything good for Karma. 

“I meant to explain something,” Nagisa said. “I- do- do you know what asexuality is?” 

Of course, Karma didn’t immediately reply either. He just kind of looked at Nagisa for a moment. Nagisa felt Karma’s eyes scan him and felt his own fists curl together in reaction. He wanted to push through on this. 

“Like, the no sexual attraction thing?” Karma asked, his face a little confused. “Yeah I’ve heard about that before.” 

“Well,” Nagisa swallowed a little louder than he wanted to. “I-I’m that…”

Another silence. Nagisa felt a certain weight on him, as if the tension of the moment was trying to crush him down. He felt his every move, every inch of his body, as he attempted to keep his breathing at the most normal pace he could imagine. He wasn’t sure why it felt so heavy, perhaps it was the fact that every breath felt like it lasted for an eternity. Or, maybe that was just that waiting for Karma’s reply felt like an eternity, as if every second was at least ten years. 

He just wanted Karma to say something. Anything. He hated being so cliched about it, but it truly felt like every second that passed was slowly trying to kill him. If time didn’t do it, his own mind would. Every possible move Karma could make went through his mind, most of them negative. He’d been so focused on all that, that the sudden sound of Karma’s low voice surprised him. 

“You don’t feel sexual attraction?” Karma asked, a little dumbfound. 

“Yes…” 

“so you’ll just… never have sex?” 

“Uh, yes?” 

“And that’s a thing you’re sure about?” 

“...Yes.” 

Karma pursed his lips and looked away for a moment in thought. Before Nagisa could try to say anything to him, Karma did something that completely surprised Nagisa. Karma just shrugged. 

“Okay.” 

Everything that had been going on in Nagisa’s mind stopped. ‘okay’? Nagisa shook his head in confusion, not sure if what he’d just heard was reality. When he looked Karma in the eye again, he saw the earnesty, and knew that he had. Somehow, that didn’t solve any of his confusion. 

“That’s… All you have to say about it?” Nagisa asked. 

Karma, once again shrugged. “Were you expecting more? some heartfelt comment or something?” 

Nagisa wasn’t sure  _ what _ he’d been expecting. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting Karma to barely react to it, almost seeming disinterested in what Nagisa had just told him. Nagisa couldn’t believe how worried he’d been over all of this. If only he’d known Karma cared literally so little about this particular fact. 

“You don’t mind?” Nagisa asked. “You’re not bothered or- or feel that it affects your feelings?” 

“Nagisa, I’m fourteen,” Karma said. “I don’t think I was even thinking about sex when I first considered my feelings. It’s really not that big of a deal.” 

A big breath escaped Nagisa, and with it came a weight of his shoulders. As senseless as the words ‘not that big of a deal’ were considering Nagisa’s insecurities on the topic, Nagisa was just glad this one fact didn’t bother Karma. It wasn’t like he’d told many people before, anyways. 

The only people who knew were Ritsu and Kayano, mostly because Ritsu had informed him of what asexuality was, and Kayano was the first person he could think of when needing to talk about emotions. He didn’t want to be stereotypical about anything, but most of his guy friends sure loved avoiding any kind of emotionally tainted topics. Not that he blamed them, he hated it himself, too. 

He now managed to look at Karma with a genuine smile on his face. Perhaps it was a little too soon to smile like that, but Nagisa couldn’t help but feel relieved. At least he managed to get this over with. Nagisa felt like if he could do this, he could do the rest of their talk too. Though, that did involve crossing the next topic on their list of issues they had. Oddly enough, Nagisa wasn’t the one to bring this one up. Instead, Karma finally spoke up. 

“So you admit you have feelings for me?” Karma asked, a small smirk appearing on his face for a mere second. 

“I admit there’s some…” Nagisa forced out. “It’s a little complicated to explain that kind of-” 

“Please just- stop beating around the bush,” Karma complained. 

Nagisa wasn’t sure he appreciated that attitude, but he also had to admit it was what he was expecting of Karma. On top of that, it was what he expected of himself. Getting to the point still wasn’t his forte. If he was going to say it, he might as well say it as it is. 

It took him a long time to understand it, really. He wasn’t even entirely sure when he realized just the way things were. Karma’s confession had added something to his realization, but surely it wasn’t the reason for everything being the way it was. There had been some tension between him and Karma before. Nagisa just felt like he was the king of denial. 

“I do have feelings for you,” Nagisa finally admitted. “I’ve had feelings for you for a while, I think.” 

It was strange. He wasn’t used to him and Karma actually talking. Now that they were finally doing so, Nagisa felt like he had to say everything. He was so over him and Karma revolving around each other without ever discussing why. Admitting his feelings was a lot, but it was so much better to both Karma but also himself, who had no idea why on earth he’d felt so much pain when Karma hadn’t talked to him for days in a row. Everything really did start to make more sense. 

Karma, too, showed some kind of face that made Nagisa feel like he felt this was the right thing to do too. They were doing the right thing by talking, really. Karma’s entire aura had changed from before. Somehow, Karma even managed to smile for a second, before his face changed and he looked a little more troubled. Nagisa didn’t like that change, and couldn’t help but wonder what had brought it on so quickly. He wanted Karma’s smile back. He wanted to see the smile that made him feel all giddy on the inside. 

“Then why didn’t you kiss me back?” Karma asked, some hurt shining through in his voice. 

“B-because, well,” Nagisa searched for the right words in his mind. “Feelings doesn’t mean dating?” 

“Why not?” 

Nagisa thought about it. In his own head, it made sense. Feelings were feelings, they didn’t necessarily have to lead to anything or really be strong enough to always define something as meaningful as getting into a relationship with someone. He forced himself to think back to the past few weeks, to his and Karma’s body swap and the way they had gotten to their current conversation. He considered Karma’s myriad of confessions, their awfully date-like trip to Akihabara, their kiss, and everything Karma had done for him without Nagisa ever even really appreciating it before. 

Mostly, he thought back to over two years ago, now, when he’d first met Karma. His mind wandered to his first impression of Karma, and how oddly cool Karma had appeared to him compared to anyone else in their class, how much of a positive light he’d put Karma in. If he had to be honest with himself, he knew he’d have to admit to there having been something more than plain admiration right from the beginning. He’d always suppressed the idea of it being more. What he felt now… He knew it was even more than the great amount it had already been back then. 

He rested his hand on Karma’s lap, to which Karma instinctively put his own hand over his. Nagisa didn’t brush him off. He didn’t mind the touch. He welcomed it, actually. Even as he felt Karma come closer to him, he didn’t move away, instead he moved closer, too. Their bodies were not far removed from each other when he once again found himself getting lost in Karma’s gaze, his eyes only breaking away from his to take a quick glance at Karma’s lips which were barely a few centimeters away from his own. A smile crept on his face when he spoke. 

“Honestly,” Nagisa said. “Why not?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END
> 
> This fic has been a lot, tbh. I never planned for this to be more than maybe 4k and definitely not more than 3 chapters. Yet here we are!  
> I hope people enjoyed it and uh... idk, I hope the ending is enough? To me this fic isn't a grand story that needs a grand ending with many cry parties or big events or anything. I felt this was a nice way for it to ease into canon universe somewhat? I did change the idea I had for the ending quite a bit somewhere along the way. 
> 
> Yes there was a slight chance Karma died... 
> 
> I'm sorry the last chapter took so long. My exams were a priority and, well, my health hasn't been at its best. I'm honestly just glad I managed to get this to y'all before December. 
> 
> If you like this fic and my other writing: I have some big plans for December! I'll start a new fic (special christmas one) and will post a chapter every day until Christmas! kinda like an advent calender. So if you need some reading for the holidays, be sure to check that out when I start posting that. 
> 
> For now I thank all of you for reading, want to appreciate every single comment and kudo people left and FINALLY let this fic go. No, unless I somehow feel a weird instinct, there will be no epilogue. This fic really was the return of me sharing my writing with people again for the first time since 2017. I hope it was good enough.


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